In the spotlight at a workshop held on Thursday in Da Nang were discussions on building a solar energy database and potential solar energy map in the city, and the issuance of a handbook on developing rooftop solar power projects as well.

The event was jointly organised by the Da Nang Energy Conservation and Technology Consultant Centre (DECC), and the Management Board of the European Union-funded Da Nang Solar Energy Development (DSED) project.

Jointly developed by the European Union (EU) and the DECC, the DSED project is now running for 40 months, from July 2017 until October 2020, at a cost of 444,169 EUR. Of this, 393,000 EUR in non-refundable aid is from the EU, whilst the remainder comes from DECC’s budget.

The purpose of the project is to raise public awareness about the efficient and economical use of energy, with a focus on encouraging locals to use solar energy, in a bid to mitigate climate change.

The DSED project consists of 3 main components, namely the development of a policy framework for solar energy development; the installation of solar panels on the rooftops of selected families and public buildings in the city; and the enhancement of knowledge capacity and exchanges about solar energy development.

Under the project, between September 2018 until February 2019, engineers and scientists conducted measurements at multiple residential and commercial rooftops, ground and water areas so as to build databases about solar energy.

The solar energy database will be integrated onto the map, and then software will be created to allow the general public to capture the specific parameters on the solar energy potential in certain areas where solar power systems are scheduled to be installed. This, therefore, will help to choose suitable technologies and products.

To date, the solar energy database, featuring spatial and solar thematic data, has been basically completed, hereby laying a foundation for designing and developing the potential solar energy map, serving a wide range of popular purposes.

Currently, this database is available on the Internet at a temporary address http://geovietmap.com:8090.