Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is expected to announce a plan to introduce net metering for future rooftop solar implementations, rather than put in place a feed-in tariff for those generating solar power.

The utility is expected to publicly roll out its plans before the end of the year. It was expected that this would be a feed-in tariff, enabling companies and individuals to sell any excess power produced into the national grid.

Dewa is now likely to instead implement net meters, measuring the solar energy produced and reducing a property’s bill. It means that excess energy produced will not be sold into the national grid, but instead be wasted as it will not be used.

“It’s too early to say if this is good or bad and we need to see the fine print,” said Vahid Fotuhi, president of the Middle East Solar Industry Association. “It is good that [Dewa] is stepping towards a rooftop programme and will have policies to promote it. Overall, it is a positive story and once we have the details of what has been agreed then we can have a more educated conversation on the pros and cons [of a net metered approach].”

Rooftop solar proved a hot topic at MEED’s Clean Energy Forum conference, with several delegates and speakers interested in plans to open up the market. A difficulty highlighted with rooftop solar programmes is that many commercial and residential properties are rented, making it harder to convince people to invest in the technology. Owners are not using the building, and renters have little impetus to invest when their long-term future may lay elsewhere.

However, in other countries, rooftop programmes helped kick-start the solar market. Alice Cowman, CEO of the Clean Energy Business Council, said that when so many businesses and people rent, it is hard to push through both rooftop programmes and energy efficiency.

“Individuals and corporations are getting involved from the bottom up, and if we could generate that sort of energy, awareness and excitement here, I think you’d start to see real change and a real shift,” she said.

Fotuhi said that for those renting, many will avoid investing in a system where the payback period can be 10 years or more. “However, there are also a lot of business and warehouse owners that would be interested in this,” she said. “We feel this project will initially be attractive to the large-scale and as the prices improve, to commercial and residential [properties].”