NEWS
Qualified for the International Final Competition.. The University of Bahrain Wins Third Place in the Middle East Solar Decathlon Competition
University of Bahrain (Jasmine Khalaf)
November 24, 2021
Competing against eight international universities, the University of Bahrain won third place in the Middle East Solar Decathlon competition and second place in energy management following China, which won first place,.
The University of Bahrain Go Smart team qualified in 2019 in the Solar Decathlon competition, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, in conjunction with Expo 2020 Dubai.
The University of Bahrain has also won other awards in the competition, namely Audience Award, Sustainable Transport Award, Communication Award, Comfort Conditions Award, Innovative Solutions Award, House Integrated Solar Panels Award, and Energy Management Award.
The President of the University of Bahrain, Dr. Jawaher bint Shaheen Al-Mudhahki, expressed her pride in the university’s winning team, pointing out that this achievement is a motive for continuing to harness scientific and practical capabilities to achieve outstanding achievements in Gulf, regional and international competitions.
Dr. Al-Mudhahki lauded the continuous efforts of the academic staff for supporting and encouraging students to compete against their peers in international universities, and motivating them to develop their personal, scientific and creative skills to accomplish achievements, in line with the university’s objectives and vision 2030.
For her part, the team leader, Head of the Department of Physics and Renewable Energy Laboratories at the College of Science, Dr. Hanan Mubarak Albuflasa, expressed her great happiness that the University of Bahrain won the third place in the competition. Dr. Albuflasa stated, “The experience of the university team qualifies it for global competitions, given that it could overcome teams whose members are mostly graduate students, and that the team has never participated in this competition unlike other teams.”
The University of Bahrain team participating in the competition constructed a smart home powered by solar energy, in a period not exceeding two weeks.
Dr. Albuflasa noted that the university team participated in a strong competition, taking into account that it is the first time for the University of Bahrain to participate in such competition.
The team installed solar panels in the smart home, designed to depend on the solar panels and the efficiency of energy systems. The smart home is based on several standards including sustainability, innovation, clean energy, mobility, smart solutions, and comfort to enhance a sustainable lifestyle.
The University of Bahrain team consisted of 38 male and female students representing the colleges of sciences, engineering, information technology, and arts. The students built the house on their own, without the help of contracting companies, because one of the conditions of the competition is learning how to implement.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has allocated an area of more than 60,000 square meters in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, to host the second edition of the International Competition for Universities (Solar Decathlon Middle East), held in conjunction with the Expo 2020 Dubai, for designing buildings based on solar energy.
