Israel
With an annual incident solar irradiance of approximately
2 000 kWh/m2 and few natural energy resources, Israel
has pioneered the use of solar energy. Since the early
1970’s the Israeli Government has dedicated much time
and money to R&D of solar energy technologies and
on demonstration programmes. Nationally, solar power
has been harnessed through both photovoltaic modules
and solar domestic hot water systems although it is
the latter technology that has brought Israel to the
forefront of global development.
The law requiring the installation of solar water
heaters in Israel was introduced in 1980. The "Solar
Law" is an amalgam of different legislative measures,
all designed to lay down national standards and regulations.
The Planning and Building Law requires the installation
of solar water heaters for all new buildings (including
residential buildings, hotels and institutions, but
not industrial buildings, workshops, hospitals or
high-rise buildings in excess of 27 m), dictating
the size of the installation required for a particular
type of building; the Land Law governs solar installations
in existing multi-apartment buildings and the Supervision
of Commodities and Services Law provides governmental
supervision of the quality of installations and their
guarantees. Furthermore, Israel is the only country
in the world that legally requires the education of
energy managers to include solar energy.
During 1997 in excess of 80% of Israeli families had
solar water heaters, representing over 1.3 million
installations. The solar contribution was equivalent
to 21% of the electricity used by the domestic sector,
5.2 % of national electricity consumption and 3% of
Israel’s primary energy consumption.
In addition to being used extensively in the domestic
sector, solar energy is also used for a variety of
agricultural purposes (greenhouses, drying and water
heating), minerals extraction at the Dead Sea Works
and water heating/steam production in many educational/commercial
buildings.
At end-1999 there were 401 kWp of installed PV power,
of which 381 kWp was off-grid. Approximately half
of the applications are lighting systems and about
15% are remote electrification systems. However, the
extensive national grid precludes the same penetration
by PV as has been enjoyed by solar water systems.
There is no PV module manufacturing capability within
the country and currently most activity is concentrated
on maintaining the technical excellence that has been
achieved through academic research.
The Ministry of National Infrastructures estimates
that by 2025 solar water heaters will account for
2.4% of the estimated national energy consumption,
solar houses for 0.1%, concentrating collectors for
0.5%, solar towers for 0.3% and PV for 0.03%.
Country Notes
(SOLAR ENERGY)
Australia || Canada
|| China
|| France
|| Germany
|| India
|| Indonesia
|| Israel
|| Italy
|| Japan
|| Kenya
|| Korea
(Republic) || Mexico
|| Netherlands
|| Norway
|| South
Africa || Spain
|| Switzerland
|| Thailand
|| United
States Of America
