ZenithSolar to open first solar energy solar farm in IsraelIn April, Israeli solar energy start-up ZenithSolar will launch its first “solar farm” based on Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) systems. Developed by Prof. David Faiman, chairman of the Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics at the University’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, the system is designed to harvest more than 70 percent of incoming solar energy (as compared to industry norms of 10% to 40%).
In its first stage, the solar farm, based at Kvuzat Yavne, will generate electricity and hot water for the kibbutz. At later stages it will provide energy for other Israeli neighborhoods.
More than $10 million of privately-raised capital from investors around the world has been invested in adapting the technology to real world conditions. The $1.5 million outlay in the solar farm is providing a model that can be replicated around the world. ZenithSolar, which was founded in 2006, plans to have models of the solar units available for wider distribution by the end of 2009. “The potential for this technology to provide low-cost, accessible energy for customers around the world is enormous,” says Roy Segev, founder and CEO of ZenithSolar. “Our system is simple enough to be applicable in almost any situation, whether it is industrial, commercial, residential or related to eco-tourism.”