I t was once unimaginable that solar energy could be the primary source of power in our homes, but as the government strives to encourage development of new communities in rural areas, it is making significant steps toward turning this dream into reality. Scientists at the National Research Center (NRC) are working on a diverse range of projects that may ultimately contribute to the emergence of a solar energy industry here.

A key requirement for continued development in remote, arid regions of the country is a supply of affordable energy for both domestic and commercial use. Since traditional grid electricity is currently unavailable in many of these regions — and is likely to remain so for quite a few years due to the lack of necessary infrastructure — solar energy is arguably the most suitable energy source for these areas, given their environmental conditions.

The NRC was founded to contribute to the country’s development plans through scientific research. Dr. Nagwa Khattab, head of the Solar Energy Department (SED) within the Engineering Research division, says “In the solar house project, our aim is to build a working model home in which all requirements — water, electricity and heating and cooling — are supplied by solar energy systems.”

Equipped with lighting, a refrigerator and stove, the house will be supplied with enough water for four people through pilot units for water desalination, disinfecting, and pumping systems. Solar-powered air-conditioning systems will be installed for heating and cooling, while electricity is supplied through photovoltaic cells — panels which convert sunlight into electrical current.

“A new type of cell has been developed, tested and fabricated in the SED and will be used in the windows of the house,” says Khattab. “These cells are characterized by simplicity of production and availability of their raw materials at low costs.”

A remarkable cooling system is being tested in the laboratory of one of Khattab’s colleagues, Dr. Iman Bellah Motawaae, where a tank fixed to the roof is used to cool the office during the daytime. At night, cool air is passed over specially designed capsules inside the tank, causing them to freeze. During the day, warm air runs through these cold capsules, becomes cooler, and is blown out into the room. In her experiments, Dr. Motawaae has cooled the room to 26°C when it was 38°C outside.

The SED team will study the performance of these systems through 2009 before analyzing and discussing the results. Costs associated with the solar-powered house will be calculated and compared with those of a house that consumes traditional energy.

Khattab’s aim is to encourage the acceptance and endorsement of technology developed in the solar house project on the widest possible scale. “I hope more consideration will be given by the government, public and private sectors to subsidize the solar house project and other renewable energy projects,” she says.

A solar-powered heater is more expensive than a traditional heater, and for this reason, the initial costs would need to be subsidized by the government or paid for in installments to encourage consumers, explains Khattab. The advantage is that after that initial investment, the consumer does not incur any monthly payments, unlike with electric or gas heaters.

In addition to the solar house project, the SED is working on a number of other solar initiatives to aid those in rural areas without access to a reliable power supply. In farming, solar crop dryers help preserve newly harvested grains and produce, while solar-powered ice machines let fisherman in remote areas preserve their daily catch until the fish can be moved to relevant markets. The sun’s power can also be harnessed to supply clean drinking water; in coastal areas, it can be used to purify seawater, whereas in more arid areas, it can be employed to pump wells.

“We are trying to distribute solar energy systems to all regions of Egypt, through SED installation [] in addition to providing the necessary consultation on the installation of solar water heaters in the new cities, and the creation of a solar energy laboratory at Suez Canal University,” Khattab says.

As well as researching other creative applications for solar energy systems, Khattab hopes that the SED can extend its reach beyond rural regions by developing efficient, low-cost photovoltaic cells for a variety of uses.

One of the major barriers to adopting solar power as a legitimate alternative to other energy sources on a large scale is that electricity can only be generated during daylight hours. To overcome this limitation, energy must be stored during the day to meet nighttime demands.

To this end, SED’s Motawaae has been working with Dr. Hassan Shaarawi, a researcher from the Chemical Engineering Department of the NRC, to develop a practical storage medium, namely, hydrogen. Their work expands on research conducted as early as 1998 by Dr. Hani Barakat, who focused on using solar energy to produce hydrogen.

Now, researchers are working on electrolysis, whereby a current — in this case produced by photovoltaic cells — is passed through water via special electrodes, releasing hydrogen and oxygen in the process. Shaawari has been looking into the production of several low-cost yet durable electrodes. “These electrodes replaced the expensive platinum ones used previously and were highly effective in breaking water down into its basic elements — oxygen and hydrogen — through the electrolyzer,” Motawaae says.

Motawaae’s method of hydrogen production is cheap, even by international standards, and there are plans to replace expensive photovoltaic cells purchased from Japan and Germany with those developed in the SED.

In spite of Motawaae’s success in the hydrogen field, she is not yet satisfied. “We are still moving at a slow pace in the field of solar energy, while other countries are moving quickly,” she says. “[] I’m trying to create a base on which a solar-hydrogen energy station could be built. Also, solar farms could be realized for generating electricity for export to Europe.”

According to Khattab, Egypt enjoys abundant solar energy. In Upper Egypt, solar insulation, a useful measure of sunlight for solar energy purposes, can reach up to eight kilowatt hours per square meter per day (kWh/m2/day) with approximately 300 clear days each year. Compare this with the relatively pleasant climate of San Francisco, California, for example, which has an average insulation of 4.5 kWh/m2/day and only 160 clear days.

Given the abundance of space and sunlight on the African continent, many researchers based in European nations are now interested in using the sunny North African coast for producing electricity by solar means — the electricity produced can be input directly to the European power grid. Scientists in Central Africa have also studied how to transfer electric energy to Nile Basin states.

Unfortunately, despite Egypt’s suitability for solar development, private companies have thus far held back on investing in these projects because they don’t see rapid returns. Dr. Hamdi El-Ghitani, assistant professor at the NRC, said that recommendations have been sent to officials regarding the best ways to diversify solar energy across Egypt. He says that education has a key role to play. For example, students should be taught about solar energy at various stages of their schooling, while establishing solar energy laboratories in schools and universities will allow students to see how solar energy works and make them more aware of renewable energy solutions.

Mass media can also play a prominent role in increasing public awareness of solar energy. Government and NGO-sponsored courses and exhibitions at youth centers, universities, schools and summer camps could also help create a generation of innovators in the development, marketing, maintenance and industrialization of a solar energy sector. Although progress has been made and a sun-fuelled future is approaching, the fledgling solar industry here still has a long way to go before it is a practical alternative to more conventional energy sources. et