Team 4 - Problem Statement

Problem:

According to the US Energy Information Administration1, there was an overall 6.6 million b/d increase in
the consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels in 2022 (EIA, 2022). Therefore, as natural resources of
energy deplete rapidly across the globe, the issue of shifting to a renewable source of energy is slowly
becoming increasingly relevant, although there are massive economic and social barriers which need to be
overcome to reach a sustainable solution. Throughout its history, Qatar as a nation has utilized its
astonishing and seemingly infinite oil resources as a method of generating energy for the country while
also in international trade, and it’s economy has hence thrived. Until recently, there was never a need to
worry about lack of energy resources available, and the idea of utilizing renewable energy sources as a
technique to provide electricity and power was seldom discussed. The Qatar 2030 Vision2 brings this
topic to the forefront of the social sphere, as it aims to produce 20% of its energy through renewable and
non-gas means. Qatar is located within a region that requires regular replacement of such renewable
resources due to the extremely dismissive climate. Unfortunately, there are a number of methods that
have limited functionality in the nation; there are no flowing bodies of water to take advantage of
watermills, wind turbines would be rendered useless for the majority of the year since the strongest winds
recorded within the country range from 9 to 10 mph3, which according to the Beaufort Scale of Wind is
regarded as a gentle breeze. Solar panels are the most optimum option to function within Qatar. Taking
Solar Panels as an example of such a source of renewable energy, researches and studies show that
photovoltaic cells need high rates of irradiation4, to produce high capacity of power output (Ibrahim,
2019). This might be a problem within areas such as Qatar due to the dusty climate, that might provide
unnecessary shading5 over the cells and stop the light energy from reaching the panels, while also creating
“hot-spots” on the surface of PV cells, causing overheating of the surface6, which limits the performance
of the cells. The sustainment of panels from getting soiled would increase the longevity and durability of
solar panels while maintaining the efficiency of the source. Hence, limiting solar panel costs through
sustainability of PhotoVoltaic Cells is a problem worth considering if a society wants to make solar
panels their principal energy source.

Purpose:

Our intent with this project is to determine the factors which degrade the components within solar panels
in Qatar, and develop a solution to counteract deterioration. Through this study, we will research
previously thought of and tested solutions, inside and outside the Middle East, and delve deeper into why
those methods have not been implemented; possibly aiding in our search for a concrete solution to
increase the efficiency, longevity and economical friendliness of solar panels in Qatar. This study is a
small part in the collective effort to ultimately reduce Qatar’s depletion of natural resources substantially.

Scope:
The problem related to the sustainable use of energy conversion devices such as PV Cells, is significant
due to its environmental and economic impact within the country. Qatar as a country is progressing
towards the utilization of renewable energy sources, as mentioned in the 2030 Vision statement. The issue
is quite significant in relation to the 2030 Vision, since the efficiency of solar panels is hindered as a
consequence to the environmental factors presented by Qatar’s climate.

Since Qatar’s aim is to commit to the use of renewable energy resources, finding a solution to this
problem would allow the country to achieve the criteria required to reach their aim, while also conserving
their economic status. Finding a solution to this issue is also of potential importance to other companies
who face similar challenges such as companies in Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates, and other
regions which face environmental barriers. Previously the Qatari government has eagerly tried to
implement the use of such PV sources of energy, but have been hindered by the extreme consequences
such as the solar panel waste, unbalance between cost and revenue of the product, and the lack of
demand7. The latter has recently shifted, due to the influx of people within the nation, and a simultaneous
increase in industry output, hence gradually requiring more energy than previously.

Methods of extracting energy from renewable sources have been recently experimented and applied as a
way of measuring the scope within Qatar for such innovations and their significance towards the future of
the country. Although there are countless devices which convert renewable energy to usable power, the
maintenance and cost of such devices has massive ramifications on the overall economy. Such devices
have an expiration date, while the maintenance and cost of the materials that are used to create such
sources, is an extremity which limits the provider’s financial capability.

Prior Research:

The renewable energy industry has grown rapidly over the past few decades, and has replaced limited
fossil fuel and gas consumption across the world. Qatar, although, due to its large and extensive supply of
oil as an energy source, has rarely resorted to renewable means of energy. Even though it is a small
nation, populating 2.8 million people approximately, Qatar continuous progression and development
requires large amounts of energy consumption, and that is only supported by the natural energy within the
country itself, meaning large quantities of natural resources are being consumed, which in trajectory
would leave the country without any natural methods of providing energy. Solar Panels or Photovoltaic
cells are mechanisms which use light energy from the sun, as a method of producing energy. There are
although issues with deploying solar panels as singular devices of energy conversion, due to the many
common threats to the longevity within the environmental spectrum of Qatar such as:

- According to the scientists at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)8, the amount of
solar energy lost due to dust and soiling on solar panels in the middle east, namely Qatar,
averages at about 50% (Hicks, 2021).
- Solar panel specialists name a number of general issues with solar panels, and one stands out
when it comes to Qatar, which is the issue of hot spots9. These arise when the solar panel cells get
too hot and cause long term failure (Svarc, 2021).
According to Omran Al-Kuwari, the founder and CEO of GreenGulf, there was an underlying “Paradox”
regarding renewable energy within gulf nations for decades, including Qatar (Mirgani, 2022). This was
due to increased costs, and lack of demand10. Although minor methods have been researched and tested,
they have been minimally applied, and have rarely achieved the success they were hoping to attain. For
Qatar to implement such methods of sustainability, they have to first find a renewable energy platform
which they can utilize long-term, and then slowly integrate sustainability measures into the devices. There
has to be caution to the approach since any malfunctions to a major power source would cause severe
consequences.

Objectives:

Our objective is to find a potential long term solution to the problem; a method to reduce the harshness of
the environmental factors that is experienced by the solar panels, to increase the longevity of the devices,
hence decreasing the overall economic strain caused. These environmental factors are related to the desert
weather conditions which include high temperature and the dust deposition that can settle on the solar
panels. These factors are important to consider as the optimal conditions for maximum efficiency are 15-
35℃ but when there are dust settlements and too hot or cold weather conditions, then that exponentially
decreases the efficiency of electricity production11.

The focus of our project is to find a suitable solution in order for Sidra hospital to utilize solar power in
Education City - and futuristically hospitals and clinics in Qatar. In general, hospitals use 31 kilowatt-
hours of electricity which is a profuse amount of electricity12. With such high electric usage, hospitals are
great candidates for renewable energy measures and in this case for the use of solar panels. Our target
users are hospital staff as machinery and equipment in hospitals require a fast amount of energy to run
tests and conduct research on patients.

The decisions whether to implement the solar panels will be affected by multiple factors. There is the
environmental factor, the issues with the weather conditions must be solved first in order to implement
solar panels in a hospital, as they must be working efficiently permanently due to the urgency of the
potential patient cases. Any setbacks could risk a patient's health and safety. Moreover, the expense of
improving solar panels must be a reasonable value in order for potential buyers to be interested in
purchasing, especially considering the fact that they must purchase more than one panel in order to
transition the hospital as a whole into using renewable energy. A probable issue with transitioning the
hospital into using a renewable source would be that patients of the hospital may not trust the
functionality of solar panels as they may fear a power outage or a decrease in the efficiency of machinery.
This social dilemma would be a large factor in implementing the solar panels in hospitals.

Prior Potential Solutions:

Many of the issues that come with installing solar panels in a region like Qatar have solutions that are
implemented in other regions.

High temperature decreases the effectiveness of a solar panel, usually that happens when the weather
exceeds 25°C, as it increases the temperature in the panels which causes energy to be lost. This led
different researchers to invent methods that reduce the temperature in the panels so less energy is wasted.
The French PV system installer13, Sunbooster, developed a cooling system that relies on water.
Sunbooster’s solution is a pipe with very small holes that is built into the top of the solar panel, and when
the panel’s temperature exceeds 25°C, stored rainwater collected from a rainwater tank is pushed on the
edge of the solar panels so it cools down, though water could have some influence on the modules light
absorption, the increase in power yield compensates theat by preventing temperatures from surpassing
30°C (Bellini, 2020). Though this is a great solution that is rapidly decreasing in price, it isn't sustainable
in Qatar as it relies on rain water and Qatar barely gets any rainwater.

The application of solar panels in a desert region that lacks rain such as Qatar has a serious restriction
which is the accumulation of dust on the PV panels. A soiled PV panel in Qatar will only provide about
85% of its potential electricity if it wasn’t cleaned for a month. The issue of dusting has many potential
solutions, such as manual labor manually cleaning the panels, however it might be a bit challenging
considering the harsh environment and weather especially during the summer season. An alternative
solution14 that was initially developed to remove lunar dust adhered to spacesuits is a device that’s
applying an electrostatic wave that would make the dust particles fall off downward with the help of
gravity. When this method was tested it had an irrelevant amount of energy consumption compared to the
output of the panel. The electrostatic cleaning device would be a somewhat possibility for a sustainable
solution in Qatar considering that it doesn't use water and the whole system could be automated without
the intervention of humans. Coincidentally, a prototype was tested at a solar testing facility in Doha,
Qatar for 6 months, by researchers16. Two PV cells with integrated Electrodynamic Dust Shields were
compared to a regular PV cell, in terms of soiling, the cells with the integrated EDS were able to reduce
soiling by 16-33 percent when operating at 9kVpp (Guo, 2019).The disadvantage arises with the
impracticality of the method, as it is likely to have low performance, especially in relation to smaller sized
dust particles, and would require specific power to function effectively which in itself is a setback.
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