Bifacial solar panel can boost energy yield by 50%. Researchers have been trying to develop double-sided solar cells that can capture both direct and reflected sunlight for the last forty years, and now an Israeli startup believes they have come up with the winning formula. bSolar, a venture-backed project founded in 2007, showcased their bifacial […]
Israel’s Heliofocus caught Canada’s attention Last week Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver came to Israel and met with numerous Israeli leaders of clean-tech and environmental policy, including Uzi Landau, Israel’s Energy and Water Minister, Shalom Simhon, Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Minister; representatives from the solar company HelioFocus and researchers at the Technion- Israel […]
Project Interchange attendees Brian Wynn and Stephen Walz tour Ashkelon Desalination plant with Israel Desalination Chairman Abraham Tenne. Advances in green technology are reported here often, including advances in solar energy, electric car technology and green bio-fuel from algae for future military and space programs. Interest in Israeli green technology programs came to the forefront […]
Green Prophet is heading into Egypt and we want to hear about all your growing green projects. Now more than ever environmentalists need to stay the course, to lay the groundwork for a better future so that when the powers-to-be (whoever they will be) finally sort out their mess, we will be ready. Whether it’s […]
Last Wednesday in Munich, Germany, Israeli solar energy company TIGI Ltd. was among the three winners in the solar-thermal category at the Intersolar Europe Exhibition, an annual forum promoting solar technologies since 1991. Despite the fact that it is located in the Middle East, Israel is often included in Europe’s competitions and showcases, as with […]
Paint researchers at University of Notre Dame go green, and not just ‘cause they’re the “Fighting Irish” A team of scientists and engineers led by Professor Prashant Kamat is generating energy from solar paint. Building on recent advances in semiconductor nanocrystal research, they’ve developed a one-coat solar paint for designing quantum dot solar cells. Energy […]
Greenearth energy looks to Israeli solar tech to make use of Oz’s vast brown coal resources. With the climate change tipping point precipitously close, an Israeli-Australian venture will use solar technology to mitigate the greenhouse gases from coal in Australia. Developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel the new venture will reduce carbon […]
Venus crossed the sun this morning in the Middle East, giving heaven-gazers a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the hot planet. Venus’ next transit accross the sun will be in the year 2117. Earth’s twin made an appearance as a black dot traversing the sun this morning in the Middle East and Egyptians […]
In 2009, Lebanon pledged to produce 12% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020- is this target optimistic today? Renewables are becoming an important source of discussion in the Middle East, as it should. Vestas estimates renewables accounts for only 0.2 % of power production in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), an […]
Saudi Arabia could be running one third of the planet’s CSP plants by 2030. With the recent announcement of the most ambitious solar plan in the world, solar developers are now headed to the oil-rich Kingdom to help make it happen.The first of a planned 25 GW of CSP (Concentrated Solar Power: mirrors to heat […]
Saudi Arabia will save an estimated 690,000 barrels of oil a day by investing in renewables. Wonder just why Saudi Arabia finally got serious about solar with a $109 billion plan to solar-power a third of the Kingdom? I did. After all, for a long time, while its greener neighbors have been adding thousands of […]
The World Wildlife Fund and the Cleantech Group recently published a report saying that Israel is the second best place in the world to develop green technologies, second only to Denmark. Israel has long been a major exporter of such innovations, a leading developer of water-saving technology, such as its agricultural inventions, and solar power. Now Israel is starting to […]
Is the sun finally rising on Israeli solar? After a very slow start in solar energy production, Israel is finally beginning to join her Arab neighbors fast-forwarding into a solar future, like the Saudis’ $109 Billion Solar Plan to Power a Third of Saudi Arabia. Arava Power Company, Israel’s only solar developer to make any headway […]
The United States Department of Commerce ruled yesterday that Chinese photovoltaic panel prices were below production costs and therefore their sale constituted dumping. Proposed antidumping tariffs ranged from 31 percent to 250% and would come into force sometime after October 2012. The tariff is expected to significantly increase the cost of solar installations in the […]
We should all keep an eye on the Levant this summer as it manages a severe energy crisis, because what is currently unfolding on a regional scale is likely to eventually take place internationally as well. Israel, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Territories are all taxed by dwindling energy supplies and rising demand, and each country’s […]