King Salam Bin Abdulaziz, Chair in Energy Research, (which reflects the name of the current king of Saudi Arabia) was created by King Abdulaziz University, (KAU) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to undertaken research in solar energy. The Chair is tasked to conduct research (through chair budget), acting as catalyst to provide ideas for research, publications, develop capacity as well as an advisory role in research and education related to renewable energy. The current KSCER Chair is Prof A S Bahaj and KDCER Director is Prof Abdulsalam Alghamdi.

In collaboration with the Chair and KAU, the Energy and Climate Change Division (ECCD) at the University of Southampton, is undertaking country relevant research and development covering the following research themes:   

Solar Shaded Car Parks

The collaboration pioneered research aimed at implementing solar PV systems on carport shadings, especially at large car parks. Theoretical studies augmented by demonstration programme of how solar photovoltaic systems can be utilised and maintained as shading components in carports. Understanding the scarcity of water in local environment, the project researchers have designed cleaning systems using water jets, air, and vibration motors including water recycling units that only operate during evenings. The Solar Shaded Car Park project is commissioned by the King Abdulaziz University under the auspices of the King Salman Chair for Energy Research (KSCER) and the Vice‐presidency for Projects in collaboration with the University of Southampton. Read more 

Solar Housing in KSA

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is blessed with high solar radiation culminating in a hot climate requiring appreciable amount energy to support modern living conditions and provide comfort in the buildings. In this multi-million dollar project the research is addressing energy consumption in buildings which is approximately 60% of all consumption in KSA. The focus is on air conditioning and other building loads currently supplied by fossil fuel. Electricity is produced at the building level from solar photovoltaics (PV) systems to shave off such loads. This project is supported by the KSA Ministry of Education. Read more

Capacity Building

Developing capacity in renewable energy is important to support Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 and the technical, social and economic prowess in renewable energy systems.  The ECCD team developed a set of training packages in solar energy and its engineering requirements coupled with data analytics techniques to provide such capacity building in the KSA. The packages cover renewable energy system design, energy in buildings, energy efficiency and socio-economic understanding. Read more

Workshops

The International Workshop for Progress in Solar Energy Applications was organised by King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Chair for Energy Research (KSCER), to showcases research areas in solar energy and aims to highlight the challenges and opportunities in solar energy with relevance to Saudi Arabia. Read more

Publications

Alam, M.; Alghamdi, A.S.; Bahaj, A.S.; Blunden, L.; Mahdy, M.; Rushby, T. Reduction of A/C demand in hot climates using photovoltaics: a case study in the city of Jeddah, KSA2021, Accepted for publication in the ISES Conference Proceedings.

Bahaj, A.S; Alghamdi, A.S.; Wu, P.; Mahdy, M.; Blunden, L. Scaling rooftop photovoltaics in cities of varying climates: an essential step towards low carbon cities2021, Accepted for publication in the ISES Conference Proceedings.

Alam, M.; Alghamdi, A.S.; Bahaj, A.S.; James, P.; Blunden, L. Residential rooftop PV power generation to support cooling loads. 2021, Accepted for publication in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series.

Mahdy, M.; Blunden, L.; Alghamdi, A.S.; Bahaj, A.S. Satellite imagery to classify and select domestic dwellings for rooftop PV in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 2021, Accepted for publication in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series.

Alam, M.; Alghamdi, A.S.; Bahaj, A.S.; Blunden, L. Displacing Cooling Loads with Solar PV in Saudi Housing Sector2021, Accepted for publication in the ICEC Conference Proceedings.

Rushby, T.; Anderson, B.; Blunden, L.; Bahaj A.S.; Alghamdi, A.S. Tools for transparency and reproducibility in ‘big’ data driven energy demand research: case-studies of open data, open code and open science2021, Accepted for publication in the ICEC Conference Proceedings.

Rushby, T.; Anderson, B.; Blunden, L.; Bahaj A.S.; Alghamdi, A.S. New approach to determine the Importance Index for developing offshore wind energy potential sites: Supported by UK and Arabian Peninsula case studiesRenewable Energy, 2020, 152 , 441-457. View Full-Text

Alghamdi, A.S.; Bahaj, A.S.; Wu, Y. 2017 Assessment of Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Generation from Carport CanopiesEnergies, 2017, 10, 686. View Full-Text

More information on work within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be found on the ECCD website at https://energy.soton.ac.uk/renewable-energy-in-saudi-arabia/.