Dr. Hosni Ghedira, Center Director

The Research Center for Renewable Energy Mapping and Assessment at Masdar Institute

IRENA-KISR joint workshop on renewable energy in the GCCKISR, Kuwait

June 10th, 2013

Vision

The Research Center for Renewable Energy Mapping and Assessment aims to develop regional knowledge and leadership in renewable energy assessment and mapping for the Arabian Peninsula and countries with similar climate (mainly in Africa).

To become a pivotal hub for advancing research and innovation in tackling the challenge of estimating solar potential for arid and dusty environments.

Key skills:• Satellite data management and processing• Solar radiation modelling• Ground data analysis, data mining and quality control• High performance computing • Machine learning and statistical modelling• Solar irradiance measurements• Real-time remote sensing• Software development and programming• Solar technology assessment• GIS and Map-server development• Artificial intelligence• Climatology and Atmospheric Science

3x Faculty Members

8x Postdoctoral Researchers

5x Research Engineers

8x Research Assistants

2x Visiting Scientists

• Receiving the mandate from the UAE Government to develop the UAE solar atlas. The atlas was successfully launched in June 2012 at Rio+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro.

• After two years of operation, the Center has succeeded to gain international recognition as a pivotal hub for advancing research and innovation in tackling the challenge of estimating solar potential for arid and dusty environments.

• The Center has succeeded in developing regional knowledge and leadership in renewable energy assessment and mapping for the Arabian Peninsula and countries with similar climate.

Key Milestones

• Playing a key role in the Global Solar and Wind Atlas initiative. The Center is one of the co-developers of the Global Atlas application (with NREL, DLR and ParisTech).

• Hosting the Global Atlas Application at Masdar Institute Data Center. The Global atlas servers are presently hosted at our Data Center; operated and maintained by the Center engineers.

• Developing and setting up a first-of-a-kind real time solar mapping tool producing solar maps at 15-min intervals.

• Starting two new flagship projects: (1) Solar resource forecasting and (2) solar technology simulation in desert environment

Key Milestones

– Satellite ground station receiving real-time data from several European and US satellites.

– 200 Tb storage system.– State-of-the-art capability in satellite image

processing – Real time monitoring and visualization system – Portable wind profilers (200-m ZephIR 300 LIDAR

Systems)

Center Facilities: 

Earth Lab at Masdar Institute

Urban Remote Sensing Lab at Masdar Institute

Solar Mapping Tool

UAE Solar Atlas Maps: Final Results

UAE Solar Atlas Maps: Final Results

Real time Solar Mapping Tool

Continuous Validation of the Solar Mapping Model

Our recent Publications

Global Solar and Wind Resource Atlas ReCREMA is one of the key developers of the Global Solar and Wind Atlas tool, with our research partners from ParisTech (France), DLR (Germany) and NREL (USA). The atlas is presently hosted and maintained at our Center. It can be accessed at http://irena.masdar.ac.ae. The Global Atlas was launched officially during IRENA’s 3rd General Assembly held in Abu Dhabi on January 13, 2013.

http://irena.masdar.ac.ae

Became a Full Member of Desertec University Network in March 2013

Performance Modeling of Solar Power Systems

Technical Performance Modeling

Solar Power Technology AssessmentAssessment of solar energy potential is the primary application of the UAE Solar Atlas.Objectives:

Performance modelling of solar power technologies Simulation and integration in the atlas Assessment of the economic potential

Technical Performance Modeling

Design of technical performance models for mainstream commercial PV and CSP technologies with spatial and technological parameters as input variables

Economic Potential Assessment

Economic assessment based on the technical performance simulationAdditional parameters:

Spatial variables Technological variables

• Land acquisition cost• Grid infrastructure cost• Road infrastructure cost• Power demand• Land preparation cost• Transportation cost

• Capital cost• Installation cost• Operation and maintenance cost• Maintenance time• Operating life• Integrated CSP storage cost

Simulation

• Optimum tilt layers (PV)• Design variation layers

– mounting tilt (PV)– tracking option (PV)– array to inverter ratio (PV)– solar multiple (CSP)– storage capacity (CSP)

• Performance indicator layers– energy output [kWh]– specific yield [kWh/kWp]– capacity factor [%]– performance ratio [%]

Effect of desert-induced soiling on DNI sensor

• Dew data was retrieved from leaf wetness sensor (LWS) installed at Masdar Field Station, Masdar City for a year to study seasonal trend

• Solar zenith angles of ≤90° represent day-light period• It can be inferred that dew condensation begins at night but continues until few hours

after sunrise esp. from as early as October to as late as March.

Effect of desert-induced soiling on DNI sensor

Design Limitations: Absence of ventilation Rain-shield locks the dust It also partially prevents exposure to wind for

quick dew evaporation Surface area to sensor ratio: only a few dew

drops cover entire sensor glass pane significantly affecting transmittance

Slide 30

Heavy Dusty DayFeb. 12, 2009

12:15 PM (UAE time)

Al Aradh

Madinat Zayed

RGB composite image captured on March 19, 2012 (EOHCL, Masdar Institute)

Satellite-based dust monitoring tool

Real-Time Monitoring of Dust Sources in the Region

inputs : atmospheric constituents modelling propagation expected accuracy for Middle-East:

B

I0

targetOCEAN, GROUND

ATMOSPHERE

absorption

scattering

SPACE

reflection

Atmospheric parameters

Global irradiance (GHI)

Direct irradiation (DNI)

Hourly Below 12 % Below 20 %

Daily Below 8 % Below 10 %

Monthly Below 5 %

Additional benefit: can model spectral composition of irradiance

32

Physics-based solar resource modelling

33 Solar Resource Assessment

• Station AD1 in operation close to Shams since Q1 2012

Irradiance monitoring

Dust source distribution expressed as grid erodible fraction (0.0-1.0) from TOMS 1-deg dataset

U.S. Navy’s Coupled Ocean-Atmospheric Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS)

56-h

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Sat

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Solar Resource Forecasting in Arid Regions

Saturday, April 8, 2023

The assessment of thermal trends of Abu Dhabi City (UAE) has shown the opposite, where

downtown areas appeared colder compared to the suburbs, especially in the hottest months.

-Presence of vegetation in the urban area-Shadowing effect-Wind channeling effect-Construction Material

URBAN THERMOGRAPHYABU DHABI CITY

PREVIOUS STUDY ON ABU DHABI

Downtown areas appear colder compared to the suburbs during the day

Day

Lazzarini, M., Marpu, P.R., & Ghedira, H. Temperature-land cover interactions: the inversion of Urban Heat Island phenomenon in desert city areas. Remote Sensing of Environment, 130, pp. 136-152. 2013.

AirT: Air TemperatureSST: Sea Surface Temperature

PREVIOUS STUDY ON ABU DHABI

- Negative trend of vegetation in downtown area (left);- -clear presence of vegetation only in downtown area, with a stress condition

during summer (right).

Vegetation Analysis

ASTER maps of LST, land cover and ISA percentage (Summer, 2008)

ASTER maps of LST, land cover and ISA percentage (Winter, 2000)

Thermal Mapping (Abu Dhabi)

Saturday, April 8, 2023

THERMAL MAPPING

Al Safa Park Shows a lower temperature

respect to the surrounding areas

(buildings, asphalt and sand)

Saturday, April 8, 2023

REGIONAL PROJECT: LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE

FOR THE EMIRATES

LST product from METEOSAT is generated every 15 minutes with a resolution between 3-4 km

THANK YOU!