Feel The Energy of the Emirates

Things continue to hot up in the UAE with glass products and processing at the heart of so much of it, so don’t forget to book your spot at the 3rd Gulf Glass Exhibition in Sharjah. As the world’s energy debate rages, the GCC region for which this show is so important is a focal point for power – it consumes, it provides and now it generates and saves in ever more innovative ways.

Take Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative. Recognition that renewable energies will play such a vital role and the fact that harnessing heat is an obvious option in this part of the world means new investment in solar module production. The brand new production facilities will produce modules using ultra-large 5.7m2 glass panels – it’s said that the 2.2m2 x 2.6m2 panels can reduce installation costs by more than 17% compared to smaller scale thin film panels.

These solar glass panels are eight times larger and five times more powerful than that of the current market leader. The project focus is on the application of Scale, Capital and Commitment, a motif for much UAE technology introduction and another good reason not to miss out on our showcase in Sharjah in March. In other words, serious investments, serious intent and serious business opportunities for you.

There is plenty more evidence of deep thinking and high spending in this area: the new Ritek/Scheuten alliance on solar cell modules; new generation solar concentrators whose first commercial use will most likely be on flat glass; current work on photovoltaic architectural glass; low energy LED lighting; and an array of specialised glasses.

Not forgetting the ‘solar islands’ concept, with the first prototype under construction in the UAE and the massive torus now visible.

Or the first thinner glass solar panels with high resolution colour images, just hitting Dubai for the crucial BIPV market – superior quality, lower construction costs, imaginative application – just what Gulf Glass 2009 is all about.

And solar street lighting, already up and running in Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. These feature high efficiency cells which are hot laminated with a high transparency, weather-proof tempered glass. No call on the grid, great storage and conversion, intelligent control of street light operation and a designed lifetime in excess of 30 years, all with glass playing its part.