The Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME) steering committee held its second meeting at DEWA’s main office to discuss the preparation and organisation of the Solar Decathlon. HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) chaired the meeting. 

Also present were HE Fatima Al Foora Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Electricity, Clean Energy, and Desalinated Water, HE Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary General of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Saif Al Aleeli, CEO of Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation and Coordinator General of the UAE Drones for Good Award from the Prime Minister’s Office, Amer Abdulraoof, Deputy Coordinator General of the UAE Drones for Good Award, Mohammad Saeed Bakhit, Director of the Electronic Services department at Dubai Police, Abdulla Rafia, Assistant Director General of the Engineering and Planning Sector at Dubai Municipality, Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at DEWA, Dr Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA, Yousef Jebril, Executive Vice President of Power, Water, and Planning at DEWA, Abdulnasser Abbas, Senior Director of Treasury at DEWA, Dr Pedro Banda, Manager of Research & Development (R&D) at DEWA, Amir Salem, Director of Safety Regulation and Planning at RTA, and Mohammed Al Shamsi, Vice President of Civil Projects Engineering & Water Maintenance at DEWA.

The meeting addressed the selection of international university teams to participate in SDME, and the selection process by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy. DEWA will supervise the competition. The meeting also addressed the competition’s location, and the next steps required to organise the competition successfully.

“As HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, once said, “Every investment in the development of clean energy sources is at the same time an investment to protect the environment for future generations.” Dubai will host the first two rounds of the Solar Decathlon, which is held for the first time in the Middle East. Dubai Supreme Council of Energy will carefully select the participating teams, to meet the objectives of the competitions, and support the Dubai Green Energy Strategy 2050 launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to transform Dubai a global hub for clean energy and green economy, diversify Dubai's energy mix, and provide 25% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy sources by 2030,” said Al Tayer.

“The competition is a promising opportunity to motivate university students and encourage them to innovate and use their creativity to design efficient and self-sufficient buildings. Hosting this competition provides participating students with unique training to help fill jobs and continue sustainable development in a renewable and clean-energy-based economy,” added Al Tayer.

Dubai will host the first two rounds of the Solar Decathlon in 2018, and again in 2020, to coincide with World Expo in Dubai. Competition prizes will total AED 10 million. Universities will meet to design, build, and operate grid-connected, and energy self-sufficient houses. Teams will compete to adapt their designs to combat the heat, dust and high humidity experienced by the UAE during the summer. 

Collegiate teams will have to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective and energy-efficient, while taking into account the region’s climate. The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy invited international university teams who wish to participate in the Solar Decathlon Middle East to register on the competition’s website before June this year. The selected teams will be announced next October. More Details for the Solar Decathlon Middle East can be found on http://solardecathlonme.com/.