With its vast landscape, featuring "empty stretches of desert that can host solar arrays and vast deposits of clear sand that can be used in the manufacture of silicon photovoltaic cells"3 and benefiting from approximately 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, Saudi Arabia is highly suited to the development of solar energy. Saudi Aramco forecasts that the cost of solar production will halve to $0.10 per kWh in the period 2010-20 in the GCC, making it cheaper than diesel-fired generation and placing it on a par with gas

   *  ME 'can become top renewable energy exporter' - TradeArabia - 01/09/2012 -

The Middle East region can become a major exporter of the renewable energy thanks to the abundance of year-round sunlight as well as pockets of geothermal activity, said a solar energy expert. The potential for this infinite resource in the region is vast, explained Vahid Fotuhi, chairman of the Emirates Solar Industry Association. "We have all the ingredients we need to make renewable energy a success in the Middle East," he noted.

  

   *  The solar shakeout, and what to expect in 2012 - pv magazine - 01/11/2012 -  

 With bankruptcies an unwanted but increasingly common feature of the photovoltaic landscape, questions abound as to what to expect from 2012. Lux Research's Matt Feinstein investigates and picks a list of winners from the up and downstream markets. Innovation it seems, and not just when it comes to technology, is the key.