Ben-Gurion University: Innovative Solar Technology
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Israel is once again revolutionizing technology, this time with small photovoltaic cells developed at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev that are incorporated in a new “solar farm” near Tel Aviv.
Professor David Faiman, who is chairman of the Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics at BGU’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, has developed a replacement for conventional solar panels. Conventional silicon photovoltaic cell panels produce energy at a cost that is not competitive enough for wide scale use.
Faiman’s concentrator photovoltaic system (CPV) uses a reflector — mirrors — instead of conventional solar panels to capture sunlight. His reflector concentrates light 1,000 times onto a much smaller surface than a traditional solar panel, and is the key to why this method can produce energy far more cheaply than solar panels.
“What was previously the most expensive part to produce — the solar panels — is, in our invention, the least expensive component,” said BGU’s Faiman, who is also chief scientist at ZenithSolar, which has licensed this technology.
ZenithSolar launched its first “solar farm” in April at Kibbutz Kvusat Yavne to provide electricity to the kibbutz factory and hot water for the kibbutzniks.
For more Israel Science and Technology updates from Israel’s leading high-tech universities, see The Jewish Week Web site at www.thejewishweek.com.
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