Israel

Israel’s scarce land resources and lack of interconnections to neighboring countries have driven the rise of rooftop solar. Now a number of recent policy changes, mainly due to electricity reforms, are set to reinforce the decentralization trend, reports Ilias Tsagas.

Israel and Jordan have agreed to pair 600 MW of solar with an undisclosed amount of storage. The deal, which was brokered by the United Arab Emirates at COP27, will see Jordan provide electricity to Israel in exchange for desalinated water.

An Israeli scientist has proposed a way to achieve uninterrupted PV power on the moon without using energy storage. The proposal involves the installation of PV panels around a 360-degree latitudinal ring close to one of the moon’s poles. There would be no inter-array shading, and static vertical PV arrays and arrays mounted on single-axis vertical trackers could be viable mounting structures.

Seven German companies have agreed to put 27 Hyundai heavy-duty fuel cell trucks into fleet service in the coming months. American Airlines has revealed an investment in ZeroAvia, while New Fortress Energy has invested in a 120 MW industrial-scale plant in Texas.

Israeli researchers have developed a device that combines a reversible Si anode with halide cathodes and uses hybrid electrolytes to enable cell recharging. In the proposed system configuration, silicon is dissolved during the battery discharge process, and upon charging, elemental silicon is deposited.

Huawei and SolarEdge have settled all of their pending lawsuits in Germany and China through a global patent license agreement.

The solar cleaning system moves horizontally and cleans the panels vertically, while a patented auto-switch allows the robot to clean from either side of the module row, which the manufacturer said minimizes cleaning time. The device weighs up to 50 kg and has a cleaning speed of 22 m per minute.

SolarEdge has reported record revenue in its latest three-month update and expects to have even more business in the second quarter, even if gross margin and profit has declined.

Electricity generation in the Middle East and Africa could soon support the development of an interconnection between Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. Ilias Tsagas examines the landscape for this infrastructure mega-project, and the possible benefits for solar.