General
Photovoltaic activity in Israel continues to be concentrated mainly in academic research, with limited industrial involvement. The ubiquity of the electricity grid makes most applications non-cost-effective, except in unique situations.
About 400 kWp have been installed so far; 93 kWp were installed in 1999. Nearly all the applications are off-grid remote electrification systems. Most installations were made on an economic basis, the PV system being the most economically viable alternative (because of its distance from the electric grid).
The Israel Electric Corporation is required to purchase electricity from private producers, according to rules set by the Ministry of National Infrastructures.
There are no special regulations relating to PV systems, although the Israel Electric Corporation has general guidelines relating to the quality of the electricity it purchases.
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Industry Involvement
![Photo 2: A new small PV application for Palm 5 [Photo: Millennium Electric].](images/isr02.jpg)
Eight firms are active in the PV field, and they deal mainly with system integration. Most companies are small, and are not exclusively dedicated to PV. Some of the local production of systems is exported.
Presently there is no local production of PV cells, nor inverters. Israel has the required technological infrastructure enabling it to produce all the components needed for integration in PV systems. However, due to economical considerations, components such as modules are imported. In spite of this, some unique Israeli PV systems have high added value related to the balance of system (in particular, control systems), and therefore, they have international market potential.
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Research and Development
More than fifty research teams are involved in photovoltaic R&D, most of them from academe, spread over most research areas (with no concentration of effort on particular subjects). Many of these teams cooperate with leading teams world-wide (both in academe and in industry).
Among the current R&D projects, a number are highly innovative and worth noting:
- The possibility of making thin-film solar cells from carbon, in its new form of buckminsterfullerene(C60), is being investigated at the National Solar Energy Center in Sde Boker;
- A team at the Jerusalem College of Technology is working on development of solar cells for efficient conversion of highly concentrated radiation, whose strong point is simplicity of fabrication;
- A research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem seeks to improve energy conversion yields and stability of solar cells based on semiconductor nano-crystallites in the form of porous layer (Graetzel and Weller cells).
- Performance of various photovoltaic modules under desert conditions is being monitored at the National Solar Energy Center in Sde Boker.
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Demonstration Systems
![Photo 3: 1,05 kW array on a remote home in Galilee [Photo: Interdan].](images/isr03.jpg)
A number of projects is underway, and the following are particularly worth mentioning:
- The Israel Electric Corporation has installed a 5 MWp grid-connected PV system on a house in Mitzpe Adi in the Galilee, at a total cost of 100 000 USD. When the system produces more electricity than is being used in the home, electricity can be added back into the power grid. Operation has been practically trouble-free for the last four years. Overall efficiency is about 10,3% (AC).
- At Kibbutz Samar in the Arava Valley (Negev Desert), the first 4,5 kWp of a planned 200 kWp project have been built. The system claims the lowest ever balance of system (BOS) for a grid-connected project. Computer simulations of system performance were run by the Ben Gurion National Solar Energy Center, based on ten years of hourly recorded data gathered five kilometers from the site.
- A PV Controlled Lighting System was built at a road junction in the Jerusalem mountains by Solartec Ltd. for the Israeli Public Works Department. This system automatically adapts the lighting levels to the actual needs, thus achieving considerable energy saving (instead of about 70 kWh per night for a standard lighting system, it uses only about 7 kWh per night). The system is designed for junctions having a traffic flow of less than 6 000 vehicles per day, located in sites which are far from the electric grid (the break-even point is a distance of 1,5 km from the grid).
- In a cooperation project within the EU 4th Framework Programme, the Israel Electric Corporation has built a reverse-osmosis (R.O.) desalination plant, powered by wind and PV generators. The purpose of the project is to investigate the energy balance of a renewable energy hybrid system connected to a battery bank. The PV array capacity is 3,5 kWp, and the desalination unit can provide 400 L/h. The system was erected in Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael (30 km south of Haifa), where a brackish water source is available. The unit will represent a fresh water source for a small and remote community, and the project concentrates on aspects such as meeting the community daily water needs, reliability and economics.
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Educational Activities
In the Nitzana youth village in the Negev desert, an educational project was recently started, called "Science following the sun". The project will bring to hundreds of school children the message of solar energy, including photovoltaics.
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Government Actions
No special plans are being considered by the Government for the near future. However, a number of actions are being taken to encourage the PV activity. Among them:
- Keeping the R&D excellence centers alive through selective Government support of projects. The R&D expenditures in photovoltaics of the Ministry of National Infrastructures were 185 000 USD in 1999; however, additional funding is available in this area from various research foundations.
- Supporting grid-connected demonstration projects by 30% of investment when it can be proven that this is enough to make the project cost-effective.
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Further reading about Israel
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