# A Review on Solar Energy Utilization and Projects: Development in and around the UAE
## 3 Energy Scenario and Development Trends in the UAE  
The UAE's energy consumption is rapidly growing. Figure 7 depicts that a total electrical energy consumption in GWh of around 131,442 was consumed by the year 2019. This is mainly due to an increase in population growth, demand for water desalination facilities, rapid industrialization, and economic diversification from an oil-based economy. As shown in Figure 1, around 9,541,615 people are living in the country in the year 2018. To meet such energy requirements in the UAE, two primary sources are used: fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, as well as alternatives, such as coal and renewable solar power energy [53; 54; 55]. The UAE has generated electricity in the amount of 98 TWh. However, 99% and 1% of electricity has been produced from natural gas and oil resources, which are cost-effective but lead to polluting the environment, particularly through CO\({}_{2}\) generation and other greenhouse gases [55]. In the UAE, more than 90% of total greenhouse emissions (GHG) are attributed to the energy sector [56; 57]. Figure 8 depicts the total CO\({}_{2}\) emissions from energy use. In 2017, about 267.35 million metric tons of CO\({}_{2}\) have been produced [58]. As a result, this causes several environmental concerns, including global warming and climate change, as well as melting ice and sea-level rising. In Figure 9, it is clear that fossil fuel consumption was reduced to 99.81% in 2014 from 100% in 1971, and it may be further reduced in coming years. As a result, the UAE government is taking many initiatives to expand the usage of renewable energy sources. Figure 10 depicts the referred growth rate of renewable energy capacity in the UAE. In the year 2030 reference scenario, a considerable rise in solar power was observed from solar PV, demonstrating its potential trend toward meeting renewable energy demands [59]. PV technology is continually advancing to generate more electricity to suit the needs of UAE residents. Figure 11 depicts developments in renewable energy in the UAE (installed capacity). The development of innovative technologies, such as evacuated tube collectors, focusing, and traction, resulted in significant growth: 389,572 MW in 2017 from 9191 MW in 2007 [60; 61]. Figure 6: Administrative division map of the UAE. Reprinted from Ref. [18] with permission from Elsevier (Copyright 2018). Figure 8: CO\({}_{2}\) emission in the UAE [63]. Figure 7: Consumed electricity (GWh) per year in the UAE [62]. Figure 9: Fossil fuel energy consumption in the UAE [63]. Solar cell production used to be a challenge, owing to its low cost-effectiveness. Many studies have been conducted to minimize such production costs to produce better PV systems [66]. Figure 12 depicts the pricing of solar PV modules in USD per watt from 2010 to 2015. Silicon technology is popular in solar cell design due to its efficiency and suitability. The cost for solar cell manufacturing was reduced from 1.525 USD/Wp in the year 2011 to 0.478 USD/Wp in the year 2013 for thin-film CdS/CdTe; the price of crystalline material (manufactured from Japan) was reduced to 0.697 USD/Wp in the year 2015 from 2.944 USD/Wp in the year 2010; the price of the thin-film a-Si/u-Si module was reduced from 2.127 to 0.503 USD/Wp between 2010-2015; the price of crystalline material (manufactured from Germany) was reduced from 3.129-0.643 USD/Wp between 2010-2015; and the price of crystalline material (sourced from China) was reduced to 0.599 from 2.389 USD/Wp between 2010-2015. All of this is attributable to the PV sector's implementation of cutting-edge technologies. Furthermore, the solar thermal sector is rapidly expanding. Various collectors are used to capture sunlight in order to create heat with the least amount of loss, which makes them ideal for creating job opportunities in the renewable energy sector. This shows that it is critical to identify the future roles of various energy sources and to explain the actions necessary to transition to a sustainable future energy system.