Rooftop solar likely to realign GCC energy mix

Widespread deployment of rooftop solar arrays across cities in the GCC could hold the key to nations achieving their ambitious carbon neutrality targets and present a compelling commercial opportunity for landlords and investors, a report showed on Monday.

- Somshankar Bandyopadhyay [e-mail]

Knight Frank's geospatial audit of Abu Dhabi identified 42.8 square km of usable rooftop space.

(FILE PHOTO)

‘According to a research paper by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank in collaboration with the University of Leeds and University of Bristol, the region is potentially on the brink of a second renewable energy revolution, shifting focus from large desert-based solar parks to distributed urban installations.

In the study, Going Green: Rooftop Solar Potential in the GCC, Knight Frank used advanced geospatial modelling to provide the first comprehensive inventory of rooftop solar potential in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

Knight Frank’s geospatial audit of Abu Dhabi identified 42.8 square km of usable rooftop space —an area equivalent to more than 6,000 football pitches. Utilising this space would effectively create a distributed solar power plant equivalent to 55.5 per cent of the land area occupied by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park, but would in theory be located directly at the source of consumption.