The world solar energy industry looks even brighter following the purchase of Sunray Renewable Energy by the American solar energy giant Sun Power Corporation and solar array manufacturer in a $277 million deal reported in The Marker. SunRay, headed by Israeli CEO Yoram Amiga, was the first foreign solar energy company allowed to do business […]
Want to accelerate your solar idea and move more developments into the Middle East? The MENASOL conference in Cairo’s gathering a critical mass of opinion leaders, experts and financing personnel this May. In a part of the world where it can take centuries for there to be something new under the sun, Cairo will be […]
A solar project established in Jordan. New financing and a partnership with Italian company aims to solar up southern Jordan. Image via Arabcrunch. With no massive oil reserves like neighbouring Saudi, Jordan is one of the poorer countries in the Middle East, relying on USAID and other foreign support to keep its economy intact. But […]
Ira reports on the World Future Energy Summit which he attended this January. The event hosted by Abu Dhabi is arguably the most important environment conference to fuel green change among Arab nations. Israel was not among the 36 countries to officially participate in the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi in January. Some […]
Arava Power Team: “We Are The Power!” Israel’s Arava Power Company (APC) one of the country’s top solar energy producers, is now working towards supplying solar powered electricity to 15 Negev Desert kibbutzes and agricultural villages following the signing of an agreement with these communities, as reported in the JPost. Arava was in the news a […]
Coyote land or parking space for solar energy? Ask the coyotes first solar energy companies are finding out. Solar energy project promoters may not be paying attention to the ecological impacts of installing large solar panel installations in non-settled desert areas. This issue was brought up recently following the revealing of plans for companies like the […]
Political extremists launched a boycott campaign targeting Israel last year, pressuring Spain into expelling Ariel University Center (AUC) from the 2010 Solar Decathlon as Green Prophet reported. The Solar Decathlon is an international competition that calls on students in Europe to build a self-sustaining solar house. Ariel’s team was chosen as one of 20 finalists, […]
Wind versus sun on the Golan Heights: which will win? The Golan Heights, currently under dispute by both Israel and Syria, was thought to become a major location for wind power in Israel when we posted our first Green Prophet article about it back in August, 2008. At that time, there was already a wind farm […]
A new fund based in Abu Dhabi to accelerate clean tech has just closed its first round of financing. Masdar City is expected to get a big boost. Abu Dhabi’s “Masdar Clean Tech Fund” just completed its first closure, and was successful in raising an impressive $265 million. The fund is co-managed by Masdar Venture Capital […]
Solar energy companies from Israel are expected to be of great interest in Texas. A new meet in February hopes to make matches between solar-strong Israel and wind-strong Texas. Everything is big in the State of Texas. The Stetson hats are big, the oil fields are big, the cars are big, and if state legislators […]
Predicting peak oil? Saudi water desalination plants like this one to be powered by the sun. You would imagine that a desert country like Saudi Arabia would have to rely a lot on desalination for a good part of the fresh water it uses. For example, a previous Green Prophet article told about the Kingdom […]
With its year-round sunshine and high temperatures, Eilat and the region are a perfect location for the deployment of alternative energy projects. Here, Aora fires up its sun-focusing flower and solar collectors. While Israel generates numerous headlines as a solar energy innovator, the country still has plans to build additional coal plants, and there’s relatively […]
Masdar City: What Renewable Energy Should Strive For When the 2010 World Future Energy Summit opened this week in Abu Dhabi, one of the primary goals of this year’s conference was to find more ways to rid the United Arab Emirates and other Middle East countries off their dependence on petroleum as a major energy supplier. The […]
In Israel, kibbutzim (once-socialist agricultural collectives) have risen as a hotbed of environmental activity. Green Prophet has covered Kibbutz Ein Shemer, which holds environmental education seminars in their state-of-the-art greenhouse, and Kibbutz Lotan, which hosts the Center for Creative Ecology, just as a few of many examples. Although not physically based on a kibbutz, the […]
China takes a shine to Israel and invests more than $10 million in new solar technology innovation. Israel’s solar tech company HelioFocus, based on research from the Weizmann Institute, will be invested in by China’s Zhejiang Sanhua 002050 in a $10.5 million agreement, reports HelioFocus in a press announcement. The solar thermal systems developed HelioFocus will be […]
After around two months of international phone calls, this Sunday and Monday Green Prophet hosted a whirlwind two-day (20-hour) seminar on environmental blogging in Madaba, Jordan. Thanks to the good efforts of Volunteers for Peace and the Masar Center, nearly 20 Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli writers and activists met for the first time and learned […]
Blogger Azul looks at the use of solar thermal energy for heating Jordanians’ water. Here’s an example of a solar heater on a roof in Jordan. If you’ve been following Green Prophet, you’ve been enjoying the posts from our Environment Blogging Workshop in Madaba, Jordan. Jordanian blogger “Azul” talks about the simple solar solutions Jordanians […]
Osama, Khaloud, Zein and Sawsan (from left to right) present green projects from Jordan at Green Prophet’s Environment blogging workshop. It was 20 hours we will never forget. Nineteen journalists, activists and bloggers from Jordan, the PA and Israel met at an international blogging workshop in Jordan intending to make better environment bloggers (and friends) […]
Jericho in Palestine will light up with solar power thanks to Japanese initiative. The Japanese government has agreed to assist the Palestinian Authority with two solar energy projects totaling $23 million, according to the Palestinian Maan News Agency. Part of the funds, $16.7 million, will be used to assist in alleviating the Authority’s financial difficulties, with […]
A guest post by Rhone Resch (right), president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA): There is clear evidence that we need to do more and we need to do it sooner to address the pressing problem of global climate change. Yesterday, a delegation of global solar industry groups released a report at […]
After a burning hot run, Israel’s solar energy business doesn’t look so hot right now. Hundreds of solar-related jobs at stake. Not long after local and foreign companies made investments in Israeli solar energy installations to benefit from the very attractive feed-in tariff, a sudden announcement by the Israel Electric Company (IEC) states that its […]
Rachel interviews Elad Orian, co-founder of COMET – Community, Energy, and Technology in the Middle East. He’s creating solar power for Palestinian villages. Through sustainable energy development for off-grid villages, the project aims to socially and economically empower Palestinian communities of the South Mount Hebron region, one of the poorest and most marginalized areas within […]