Having an interest in renewable solar energy is not limited to big businesses anymore. Anyone interested in solar energy can invest in it today, Ivano Iannelli, CEO of Dubai Carbon, said.

Speaking to Khaleej Times at the Wetex 2017 exhibition in Dubai, Iannelli highlighted how residents in the UAE will soon be able to invest in a total of 3,000 kilowatts of solar energy, thanks to a new project by DP World and the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence. The two parties are working on retrofitting warehouses in Mina Rashid with high-efficiency and energy saving utilities, including solar panels. Through crowdfunding, residents will be able to invest in the project.

"Smart cities of the future will need to be sustainable, and what we have announced today will go a long way towards making that happen," said Iannelli. "There is a very big shift today in how sustainable cities are developing themselves. Technology is changing how individuals can contribute towards energy generation."

Nabil Battal, global HSE director of DP World Global, noted that DP World's Solar Power Programme has far-reaching environmental benefits. "We've provided four sheds on which to install solar panels and DCCE is taking the project to a crowdfunding platform, allowing a range of investors to finance an important development towards positive economic and societal change.

Investors will attain a return through the kilowatt hours generated from the project, at an estimated return rate of 40 per cent across a 10-year period.

The crowdfunding project is one of several initiatives undertaken by Dubai Carbon to encourage the development of innovative green finance, which is in turn part of a wider effort to diversify the economy away from reliance on oil revenues.

"We are democratising the marketplace in a way with this initiative," Iannelli noted. "And all of this is happening in a very transparent and end-user-centric way. Look at it this way: anyone with a spare bit of cash interested in investing it, while ensuring that they are doing their part to protect the future, now have a means of doing so. Not only are you going to get a monetary return on your investment, but you are also leaving behind a cleaner and brighter future for your children."

Source: Khaleej Times