Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) had organized the second international workshop for university teams’ participants in the second Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME), under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai. This is said to be one aspect of the partnership between DEWA and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy with the US Department of Energy and will be organized in conjunction with Expo 2020 Dubai.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA inaugurated the three day virtual workshop. In his opening speech, he congratulated the participating teams for reaching this stage and praised their efforts during the extraordinary circumstances the world is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has imposed unprecedented challenges everywhere.
“The UAE’s wise leadership attaches great importance to innovation and believes that youth are the cornerstone of building a brighter future. Hosting the first and second Solar Decathlon Middle East in Dubai is part of DEWA’s efforts to engage young people in sustainable development and encourage them to develop innovative solutions to fight climate change. DEWA will continue to provide everything necessary for the success of the 2nd Solar Decathlon Middle East, so that we are effective partners in sustainable development,” said Mr Al Tayer.
The workshop claims to feature meetings with SDME’s committees to talk about the criteria and answer the participating teams’ questions. The teams gave presentations about their projects, which are sustainable and innovative models of solar powered homes. Participating teams compete in 10 contests: architecture; engineering and building; energy management; energy efficiency; comfort conditions; house functioning; sustainable transport; sustainability; communications and innovation.
