Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that registration is now open for the second Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME).

SDME was created through an agreement signed between Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) and the US Department of Energy in June 2015, in order to organise a sustainable solar houses competition in Dubai, in 2018 and 2020.

Dubai will host the first two rounds of SDME; in November 2018, and in 2020. Prizes for the two rounds total over Dh20 million ($5.45 million).

SDME consists of 10 contests that will follow the lines of those in previous editions of the competition, although having the necessary customisation to challenge the teams to adapt their designs to the heat, dust and high humidity that we experience in the Middle East. The projects are developed by multidisciplinary teams, giving the students the opportunity to learn about technical issues, teamwork, communication skills, and sustainable lifestyle and socio-economic issues in order to ensure the viability of their project.

The announcement was made at the Second International Workshop, which Dewa organised for the 21 teams from 36 universities in 15 countries participating in the first competition.

Shortlisted team for the first SDME include Team Spirit of the Union from Zayed University and the Petroleum Institute; Team Know-Howse from University of Sharjah, UAE and University of Ferrara, Italy; Team ORA from Heriot-Watt University in Dubai; Team NYUAD from New York University Abu Dhabi; Team Jeel from the American University in Dubai; Team Al Bayt Al Kamel from the American University of Ras Al Khaimah; and others.

It also includes Team KSU from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia; Team SoLLite Salalah from Dhofar University in Oman; Team BaityKool from the University of Bordeaux, France, Amity University in the UAE, and An-Najah National University from Palestine; Team EFdeN from Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, University Politehnica of Bucharest, and Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Romania and Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani Dubai Campus, UAE, and many more.

SDME is set to take place on November 14 at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. - TradeArabia News Service