MUSCAT: Shell Development Oman (SDO) will install solar panels in two more schools in Oman as they continue the ‘Solar in Schools campaign’ in the Sultanate. SDO recently awarded a further two contracts to Hussam Technology Company LLC (HTC), an Omani small and medium enterprise (SME), for the design and construction of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation systems to be installed into two public schools located in the Al Batinah North Governorate. Contracts for the latest solar school sites were signed by Dr Firas Al Abdwani for HTC and by Chris Breeze, Shell’s Country Chairman for SDO. The recipient schools in which the new solar PV generators will shortly be installed are Kaab Bin Barsha School in Saham and Al Asma’a bint Al Harith School in Sohar.
The solar PV generation systems for both schools will be fitted with leading edge PV technology, which will see the first use of bifacial solar PV panels in Oman. Bifacial PV solar modules differ from conventional PV modules in that bifacial modules are designed to allow light to enter from both sides, enabling even more solar energy to be captured and turned into electricity. Currently Shell has successfully completed three solar schools in Nizwa, Al-Buraimi and Salalah and even more solar schools are planned for 2018. With the addition of the two latest sites, the Solar into Schools programme will see five sites operational by mid-2018.