In cooperation with the Spanish Government, SEBA institution in Spain, and the Energy Research Center, the Public Relations Department at An Najah organized the advanced seminar "Photovoltaic Distributed Generation in Autonomous and Grid-Tied Rural Applications" on Tuesday, 16^th of February 2010. The seminar was held at Zafer Al-Masri Auditoriums at the University. Attended the event was Ms. Lorea Uribarri, Head of the Spanish Cooperation Office in Jerusalem, Mr. Xavier Vallve, Member of the board of SEBA for cooperation issues, Dr. Imad Ibrik, Director of the Energy Research Center at An Najah, Engineer Salam Zagha, General Manager of NEDCO distribution company, as well as other members of SEBA and University staff.

The seminar continues over two days and comes in celebration of the inauguration of Eumnaizel village illumination project which is totally based on solar energy. At the opening of the seminar, Ms. Uribarri said that this seminar is the second one of its kind in Palestine through which the Spanish Cooperation Office seeks to support natural and renewable energy resources for several generations through various means. She also expressed her pleasure to resume cooperation with the Palestinian partners in this field, particularly An Najah University.

The seminar included a number of presentations delivered by the participants. Dr. Ibrik, Director of the ERC, delivered a presentation in which he spoke about renewable energy resources in Palestine and presented an illustration of energy use and projects in the country. His main subject was the potential of renewable energy in Palestine, and the national policy on promoting net metering and grid-tied PV systems. He further spoke about the barriers that face the use of renewable energy resources such as finance and the weakness of coordination efforts. Dr. Zagha spoke about the electrical distribution sector in Palestine, the types of energy resources in Palestine, their characteristics, energy demand and consumption, legal frame work, constraints of the electricity sector, its policies and many others.

From the Spanish side, Mr. Vallve spoke in his presentation about several topics including the Spanish institution of SEBA and the projects it carries out in different parts of Spain. He also added that other projects were conducted in other countries like the recently implemented one in Palestine in Eumnaizel village. Mr. Vallve' also delivered several presentations about photovoltaic electricity and its cost-benefits, rural electrification with multi-user solar hybrid grids (MSG), grid-connected small photovoltaic plants, the advantages of PV (Photovoltaic) energy resource, and others. Mr. Vallve's speech also included the technology used in the PV system, its flexibility, reliability, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.

The participants said that electricity constitutes around 31 % of the entire energy in Palestine, and that there is cooperation in the field of energy supply with the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority and other institutions like the ERC at An Najah. After the first session, the Spanish delegation met with Prof. Maher Abu Eid, Vice President for Administrative Affairs where they were introduced to the University's programs and facilities.