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Jordan’s plan to have solar on all mosques moves forward

Another 35 places of worship will be geared with rooftop PV. Part of the funding for the projects is being provided by the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund. So far around 500 mosques have been equipped through the program,
Emiliano Bellini
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Emiliano Bellini
Some 500 of the country’s estimated 7,000 mosques have been equipped with solar to date. | Image: 12019/Pixabay

Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has announced another 35 of the nation’s approximately 7,000 mosques will be equipped with a rooftop PV.

Minister of energy and mineral resources Hala Zawati said the projects will all be developed in Aqaba, in southern Jordan.

Around half the funds will be provided by the Kingdom of Jordan’s Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Fund (JREEEF) while the balance is expected to come from unspecified lenders. The total cost of the latest projects is estimated at around JOD675,000 ($952,045), the ministry said in a statement.

Zawati added, around 500 mosques in Jordan are being powered by rooftop solar at present. Those and the newly announced projects are all part of a scheme to deploy PV on all mosques that was launched by the Jordanian government in March 2015. “Mosques use large amounts of electricity and the project will help to significantly reduce their electricity bills as around 300 days in the year are sunny,” said a representative of the Jordanian government at the time.

The JREEEF is also targeting schools in the coolest areas of Jordan, helping to provide better insulation and lighting as well as PV systems and solar heaters. The fund was created as a result of the 2012 Renewable Energy Law in Jordan and came into effect in 2015 as an institution to finance small scale renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

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Comments

James Wimberley
Jul 14, 2019

The symbolism here is particularly welcome. The great Gothic cathedrals of mediaeval Europe were designed in their day to allow the light of the sun, created and good, to pour into the building over the heads of the faithful. The huge windows were a theological refutation of the Cathar heresy that denied the goodness of the creation. I wonder if the imams of Jordan are making a parallel case.

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