Dec 28 2010
According to Hamshahri, a Persian daily from Iran, the country is finding solar energy as a viable alternative to fossil fuel generated power. The country is favorably placed with almost 300 sun drenched days a year with a typical solar radiation of 2,200 kilowatt-hours solar per square meter.
Also the country receives rain for only three to four months in a year and the rest of the months remain sunny. The country is currently building a number of nuclear plants to meet its power needs.
The publication observes that the Energy Ministry of the country has instituted a number of positive steps in constructing solar power plants. The plants will be built in the desert areas, which occupy most of the parts in the country, to exploit solar radiation. The report observes that Iran had built its first 250 kW solar plant in Shiraz in the year 2007. The plant was designed by the engineers and consultants from Iran assisted by the mechanical engineering department of the Shiraz University and manufactured select parts required by the plant locally. In 2009, the country has built its solar power plant in Ezna Lorestan province. In the same year the country has built a combined cycle type solar plant at Yazd, which is considered to be the largest solar power plant in Iran and Middle East and ranked as the eighth largest plant in the world. The second unit of this plant has become functional now.
The publication also makes comparison between the solar power and the fossil fuel energy and quotes the generation of clean energy without greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions and saving of the ecological system, cost effective utilization of solar power against rising oil prices as advantages.