By Sarah Al Arshani – Nov 23,2019
Hadeel Al Majali

AMMAN — In an effort to build a more sustainable and green future, Hadeel Al Majali founded Jordan Solar Canopies, a company dedicated to renewable energy and education.

The young entrepreneur, who holds a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and a master’s degree in renewable energy from the University of Jordan, wanted to find a way to combine her two skill sets while helping the environment.

She established Jordan Solar Canopies in 2019 with three functions: Installing solar canopies, running energy audits and offering free online “green” learning.

Majali was one of several entrepreneurs from around the Kingdom to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah early this month. During the meeting, His Majesty reaffirmed his keenness to support young Jordanians’ innovative projects, heard from the entrepreneurs and voiced pride in their achievements.

Majali said that meeting the King was a “great turning point” in her life and symbolic of the time and hard work that she and the other entrepreneurs have invested in their projects.

“We reached this [point] because we worked hard and thought outside of the box,” she told The Jordan Times in a recent phone interview.

Although this venture only began six months ago, Majali said she is already seeking to expand. The company currently employs five people and provides an array of services. The entrepreneur said that her business not only consults a variety of clients about solar canopies, but also manages the whole process, from designing the canopy to installing it.

Additionally, Majali said she aims to be “more creative” with the installations, matching the design to the characteristics of each space they work in.

Prior to meeting with the King, Majali said she completed three energy audits, ranking the energy efficiency of various facilities on a one to five-point scale. She has since received many calls for further audits.

The audits, she said, are conducted using metrics designed for “specific types of buildings”. Government buildings, for example, have different indicators than villas, and the more energy-efficient a building is, the higher the rating. After providing a rating, the company offers suggestions for improving a building’s score.

The third aspect of Jordan Solar Canopies is free online education in Arabic about energy efficiency, green architecture and sustainability.

Majali said that there is a “lack of Arabic content” available on the topic. She aims to spread awareness about environmental issues and teach people to tackle them sustainably. Soon, she hopes to be able to provide information in English as well.

“It’s important for us to have a starting point to think about and understand this,” Majali said.

http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/young-engineer-designs-sustainable-solar-canopies-spreads-awareness