SolarQuarter Middle East magazine interviewed Dr. Firas Balasmeh, Co-Founder & CEO, FB Group. He spoke about FB Groups offerings in the Middle East region. He gave great insights on solar progression and technology used in the region. He also discussed how his company is contributing towards the clean energy Business Line in the region.

Please tell the readers about the services FB Group provides in Renewable Energy space.

Firas Balasmeh Corporation for Control Systems “FB GROUP, is a Jordanian private owned corporation operating from Jordan since 2010. FB GROUP is run by a professional team of well experienced and multi-disciplinary engineers. We work as a system integrator that provides services for business organizations and people to find quality vendors of reliable and high quality hardware, software, service, training & support.

Services provided by FB Group are Turnkey solutions, design, engineering, supplying, installation, commissioning, testing, training, and operation and maintenance.

What are the current challenges and opportunities especially in the rooftop solar Business Line in Jordan? How can the challenges he faced?

The whole Business Line of Jordan is currently under evaluation from the ministry of energy, not allowed for mega scale projects. But the rooftop Business Line is growing well and the only Business Line that is open and growing now. The main challenge is the approval process for the rooftop Business Line . There are many government and private institutes involved in it. Also there is no proper system to encourage the housing Business Line to install solar systems.

What are some smart technologies being adopted in the Solar Business Line in the Middle East region?

The most commonly used technology is the SCADA solution. Also in some projects the automatic cleaning systems are used. In some cases we consider the automatic weather

stations too in the region.

How do you see the energy storage market evolving in the Middle Eastin the near future?

Storage is the future of renewable energy, especially in our region. Till now very little investment is done in this Business Line .

How do you see your company contributing to the clean energy Business Line in the Middle Eastin the next couple of years?

We are working currently in two countries only, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Our plans to expand to the GCC countries. We will keep contributing to clean energy as a global, regional and local strategy for the next 30 years. One day the universe should work 100% on renewable energy only.