Smart office, solar technology exhibition to be hosted at Sohar in Oman

Muscat: Sohar will host the first exhibition of its kind for smart offices and solar energy for buildings and cities at Oman Exhibition Centre in Sohar next Sunday.
Recently Oman’s Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) has put out a paper that details its plans to install solar cells in homes to provide the Sultanate with a clean and renewable source of energy.
According to the paper, which is entitled ‘Public Consultation on Residential PV in Oman’, the AER is planning to install solar cells in up to 180,000 homes across the country, as part of a pilot project to test the long-term benefits of switching to solar energy.
Should this project prove to be a success, Oman could save up to half a billion rials in money spent to extract and supply natural gas as a source of energy over the next 25 years, which would also translate into energy savings of up to OMR7,200 per customer during the same period.
“This exhibition will help many companies and project owners to learn more about smart offices and solar energy and take advantage of them in their daily lives. Further, this smart offices exhibition aims to introduce companies that supply and install solar systems in factories, commercial projects, and in homes,” said Fadi Zuhair Al Haj, the General Manager of Wadi Nile Exhibitions and Festival Organiser Company, adding that the exhibition would be attended by many local companies as well as small and medium enterprises, which work in the field of solar energy and technology.
Oman’s expansion into renewable energy began after an assessment published by the AER in 2008 which looked at the Sultanate’s renewable energy resources. The study found solar energy density in Oman to be among the highest in the world.