The opening of the first solar-powered charging station in Qatar for electric vehicles is a significant and futuristic step as it will help bring down the carbon emission. Having a strong network of charging stations is one of the most important requirements for faster adoption of electric vehicles. Many countries, which have pushed ahead with electric vehicles by offering special subsidies and tax breaks are now struggling as they didn’t have the necessary infrastructure to support the growing number of vehicles.
Here Qatar has taken the right steps of setting up proper and efficient network of electric stations to cater to the electric vehicles, whose number will grow exponentially as most carmakers are rushing ahead with new and more efficient models, which will hit the market in the near future.
Qatar aims to increase the number of electric cars to 10 percent of the total sale by 2022. Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), under their Green Car Initiative, is providing charging stations and other infrastructure to help reach this number in a bid to cut carbon emission.
The newest charging station assumes more significance as it is completely powered by solar energy. This helps reduce the carbon footprint even further and this complements the Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to transform Qatar into a developed country through sustainable development.
This station will charge vehicles with electricity produced from 216 photovoltaic panels placed in a total area of 270sqm and can also have provision to store the power that can be used later or uploaded to the grid. The two-way connection to the grid will help in case of a contingency and will ensure the smooth functioning of the station.
Technology is changing fast and more researches are conducted by automakers to make electric cars run faster and longer. There are many studies happening on battery technology and the quest is on to pack much more power in much smaller batteries. It is just a matter of time that industry redefining breakthrough and the shift to electric vehicles will be much rapid than we assume now.
By setting up these stations, Qatar is getting the infrastructure in place for this turnaround as a strong network of charging station is the most important part in the journey towards a sustainable future. An electric car works out to be much cheaper for the car owner as comparative fuel cost is a fraction of a conventional car and needs less maintenance.
The main beneficiary of these tectonic changes is the society, as reaping abundantly available solar energy to power the cars leaves hope for much brighter future.
