Industry development

There is huge potential for solar energy to be the world's primary source of renewable energy. According to Stanford University's Global Climate and Energy Project, in just one year the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's surface is around twice the energy that will ever be obtained from oil, natural gas, coal and mined uranium.

This solar energy is concentrated in low latitudes and is even more intense when there is minimal cloud cover, as in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Two main technologies are used to convert this strong sunlight into energy: photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP). Other technologies include: concentrated photovoltaics, which focus sunlight onto photovoltaic surfaces; and thermoelectrics, which use temperature differences between materials to create a current.

Once generated in these ways, electricity can be: used immediately in local off-grid areas; stored using molten salts or batteries for use at specific times such as during operational periods or peaks; or distributed through a grid for either general or particular use, such as in a major city or industrial area.   

Saudi Arabia's Industrial Clusters program (IC) is open-minded about the solar technologies used in its developing Solar Energy industrial cluster.

Saudi Arabia is also an attractive location for solar thermal heat generation. This uses various technologies, usually on a more localised basis, to heat water in homes and factories, cool buildings and desalinate water.

KSA offers investors significant economies of scale, a pro-business environment, expertise and the ambition to develop its solar energy industry.

A G-20 member country and the largest economy in the Middle East-North Africa, KSA offers a wide range of opportunities in:

• Polysilicon
• Thin film
• Invertors
• Many projects supporting the solar industry

Industrial Clusters encourages investment in all stages of the solar energy supply chain, including the: 

• Production of technical gases, ingots, wafers, solar cells, modules (panels), trackers and tracking software
• Establishment of applied research centres for the prototyping, testing and certification of solar products
• Generation, integration and distribution of solar energy
• Development of applied research in improving performance, dust-repellent surfaces and waterless cleaning
• Longer-term export of solar products, energy and expertise

• Minerals and Metal Processing cluster
• Automotive cluster
• Plastics and Packaging cluster
• Home Appliances cluster
• Solar Energy cluster
  • Advantages and opportunities
  • Industry development
  • Organisations and support
• Other industries
• Industrial Clusters program support