SQU to begin construction of solar parking lots in August

Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University has announced that it will begin construction of solar parking lots on their campus from August, 2017.
According to a statement from SQU, the car park will be covered with photovoltaic cells, and construction will be done in two phases.
For phase 1, the project site is the College of Engineering parking lot. This 82 kW project is expected to reduce carbon emission by 82.6 ton/year. 324 units of PV modules will be installed with an expected annual energy production of 140MWh.
Prof. Abdullah Al Badi from the College of Engineering said that the total cost for phase one is OMR108,000 which will be funded by Jacobs International Engineering Consultancy, LLC. The main contractor is Nafath Renewable Energy. An agreement in this regard was signed by SQU and Jacobs International, who agreed to help not only with the required funding, but also in providing support to SME to engineer and construct the project.
Oman enjoys high solar radiation ranging from 5,500-6,000 Wh/m2 per day in July to 2,500-3,000 Wh/m2 per day in January. This high level of solar energy density in Oman is among the highest in the world, with SQU saying that there is significant scope for developing solar energy resources throughout Oman and solar energy has the potential to provide sufficient electricity to meet all of Oman's domestic electricity requirements.
A team from the college of engineering had proposed covering 100 car park spaces using photovoltaic (PV) modules instead of conventional shading material. The team includes Dr. Mohammed Al-Badi and Dr. Rashid Al-Abri, and are led by Prof. Abdullah Al Badi.