UAE-based multinational group Mulk Holding’s subsidiary American Building Technologies (ABTI) has successfully tested an innovative solar collector panel known as Alubond Solar Collector Panel (SCP).
The panel has been designed by ABTI managing partner Khurram Nawab and developed in the UAE research and development facilities of Alubond.
The US-patented SCP is an important technology breakthrough that improves efficiency and lowers production costs of solar energy globally, according to Ajman-based Mulk Holding.
According to Nawab, conventional solar troughs used in solar generation are either in glass mirrors weighing over 12.5 kg per sq m or single-skin aluminium with a high reflective laminated film requiring heavy support structures and a lot of riveting reducing the efficiency of the troughs.
“Alubond SCP is a 3 mm composite weighing approximately 4 kg per sq m with a 92 per cent reflectivity and offering a 20-year exterior performance warranty. The product’s ability to retain a parabolic shape to precise coordinates and its light weight features and its innovative rivetless joining process substantially reduce the substructure costs,” he says.
The company added yet another feather to its cap, when the patented SCP was tested and chosen for a $200 million-plus solar energy generation plant project in New Mexico City.
The solar trough system is expected to lower current costs of solar generation (using photo voltaic technology) by more than 50 per cent.
The 25 MW project was approved by a private energy firm based in Texas for generating solar energy using Alubond solar collectors. The first phase will involve ABTI supplying 1.75 million sq ft of its SCPs from its Rockford and UAE manufacturing facilities.
Besides the panels, ABTI  will also supply  14,000 ‘ribs’ or support structures, to aid in the conversion and storage of heat energy derived from the sun, which is then transformed into electricity.
Negotiations are also on for another 250 MW solar trough project which will require an additional 17.5 million sq ft of SCPs, which will also be supplied from both Rockford and the UAE.
“This is a great achievement for both our Middle Eastern and American office,” said Nawab.
“Our solar collector panels were chosen on the basis of the highest solar to electricity conversion efficiency, the ability to retain the parabola shape without extensive support framework (critical in reflecting solar light to the focal point besides reducing the cost of the trough system), robust after sales support mechanisms that we offer our clients and the most comprehensive warranty coverage for a solar panel. We also hope that the success of this project will lead to an upsurge in the development of more solar energy plants, which will not only lessen the strain on existing energy resources, but also severely reduce the pollution levels that are currently witnessed in power generation.”
He also hopes that the second phase of the project, scheduled to go ‘live’ in December 2009, would have great implications for the Gulf region and the Middle East energy requirements.
Recent studies have shown that the Middle East enjoys one of the most solar energy collection-friendly landscapes in the world. The long hours of constant sunshine available here has led European alternative energy financiers to predict that solar energy technology could become mainstream in two years time.
In fact, Abu Dhabi is currently building a plant with an annual production of cells capable of generating 10 MW and has plans to build another 100 MW solar thermal plant, in Madinat Zayed. The Dubai government has also announced plans to set up of one of the world’s largest solar cells production facilities.
As Alubond’s stellar performance in New Mexico City shows, the UAE-based solar panel manufacturer is perfectly poised to meet the solar energy needs of the region and make an impact on the global solar energy needs.
Mulk Holdings is the sole ME and European manufacturer and distributor of Alubond SCP. The company offers not just solar collector panels, but the entire support equipment to offer a one-stop solution for solar trough power generation systems.