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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for August 27, 2008 - כ"ו אב תשס"ח
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By Avi Bar-Eli, The Marker Correspondent, August 28, 2008
Israel’s first solar power station is up and running. Moshe Tenne built the plant on his Negev farm for NIS 1.3 million, and he estimates he will sell NIS 220,000 of electricity a year to the national power grid.
The state incentives to produce solar power took effect on July 1; they allow home and industrial customers to install solar power panels and receive NIS 2.01 per kilowatt hour for the electricity they produce compared with the NIS 0.50 per kilowatt hour they pay the Israel Electric Corporation.
The new agreement is for photovoltaic cell array technology, and the power produced is intended for the producer’s use, while any extra power may be sold to the IEC. The state limits household power plants to 15 kilowatts, and business customers to 50 kilowatts.
Tenne inaugurated his 50-kilowatt solar array this week. It will provide two-thirds of the needs of his central Negev farm, located on the region’s so-called Wine Route. The Tenne family established its farm three years ago, and makes its living from a sophisticated dairy barn with 70 cows producing about 800,000 liters of milk a year.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Business and Commerce, Middle East Report, Science and Technology, Solar Energy on August 27, 2008 - כ"ו אב תשס"ח at 9:10 pm
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By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent, May 20, 2008
Photosynthesis is nearly the sole source of energy for the creatures inhabiting our planet, include the two-legged variety. For billions of years, since the appearance of the first vegetable cell, plants and bacteria have converted sunlight into energy-rich compounds. That is how all petroleum and coal reserves were created. Unfortunately, about 200 years of post-Industrial Revolution activity has wiped out most of these, and today’s vegetation cannot take up the slack.
Photovoltaic cells made of silicon can convert solar energy to electricity, but due to their extremely high price, it costs four times more to generate power this way than with coal or petroleum. Now, researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) claim to have created a prototype of a photovoltaic cell by genetically engineering proteins that produce energy using photosynthesis. If successful, this would enable energy production on a commercial scale through the construction of “artificial leaves.” The cells would even appear green, because of the wavelength of the light that they collect.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Biomass fuels, Middle East Report, Recent Posts, Science and Technology, Solar Energy on May 20, 2008 - ט"ו אייר תשס"ח at 10:10 pm
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Israeli energy startup Zenith Solar is pioneering a “concentrated solar power” method that is up to five times more efficient than standard technology
by Neal Sandler, Business Week, March 26, 2008
Rooftops all over Israel look strikingly similar: More than 1 million households in the nation of 7.1 million people have solar panels that produce hot water—a relatively simple technology that gained popularity after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when oil prices shot up sharply. As of the early 1990s, all new residential buildings were required by the government to install solar water-heating systems.
Yet despite Israel’s sunny climate and early lead in solar heating, it has been slow in adopting more sophisticated solar technologies that produce electricity from sunlight. Now, with oil hovering near $100 a barrel, a local startup hopes to build on the country’s early embrace of sun power to carve out a new clean-energy business.
Zenith Solar, based in Nes Ziona near Tel Aviv, is a pioneer in a new type of solar energy that uses mirrors and lenses to focus and intensify the sun’s light, producing far more electricity at lower cost. Compared with traditional flat photovoltaic panels made of silicon, this so-called concentrated solar power technology has proved in tests to be up to five times more efficient. That puts it on the verge of being competitive with oil and natural gas, even without government subsidies.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Middle East Report, Recent Posts, Science and Technology, Solar Energy on March 27, 2008 - כ' אדר ב' תשס"ח at 5:30 am
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By Karin Kloosterman, Israel 21C, January 13, 2008
Solar energy is an exciting option to greenhouse gas producing power sources, because the sun offers unlimited power, and zero carbon emissions. But to make it a real-world energy alternative, kinks in the system need to be addressed.
One of the biggest drawbacks to using solar energy is its unreliability: the sun’s rays are not constant, and the power cannot be stored. The Israeli company EDIG, working in traditional markets of electro-mechanics since 1971, believes it has the solution, in the form of a low-cost hybrid generator.
Through subsidiary EDIG Solar, the company plans to make solar energy a viable power alternative. The company’s power plant is hybrid, meaning that like electric cars, the system’s turbines can adapt to more than one energy source.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Recent Posts, Solar Energy on January 15, 2008 - ח' שבט תשס"ח at 4:46 am
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A study finds rising oil prices could finally make space power plants economically competitive.
By Theo Milonopoulos, Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2007
Beam it down, Scotty.
A new federal study released Wednesday concluded that continued increases in oil prices may finally make the generation of solar power in orbiteconomically competitive.
The report urged the government to sponsor a demonstration of the technology to spur private investment in the concept.
The orbiting power plants would reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil and help reduce the production of carbon dioxide that is contributing to global warming, according to the report led by the National Security Space Office, part of the Department of Defense.
“This is a solution for all mankind,” said former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, chairman of the spaceflight advocacy group, ShareSpace Foundation. Aldrin joined a group of other space advocacy organizations to unveil the report in Washington. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Recent Posts, Solar Energy on October 11, 2007 - כ"ט תשרי תשס"ח at 11:45 am
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Reprinted from The Hindu, August 7, 2007
Tel Aviv proposes Free Trade Agreement with New Delhi
— Photo: PTI / Manvender V. Love 
Courtesy call: Minister of State for Industry and Commerce Ashwani Kumar with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Monday.
JERUSALEM: India and Israel on Monday said efforts should be made to fully utilise the potential for enhanced economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of solar energy and agriculture.
During a meeting with Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Ashwani Kumar here, Israeli President Shimon Peres also lauded India as “a unique example of a nation that has achieved high economic growth consistent with its cultural values.”
The two leaders said efforts should be made to fully utilise the potential for enhanced economic cooperation. Solar energy, water technology, nanotechnology, agriculture, including organic farming, and medicine were outlined as some of the key sectors for increased Indo-Israeli cooperation. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Business and Commerce, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts, Solar Energy on August 7, 2007 - כ"ג אב תשס"ז at 4:29 pm
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