Finally - The Breakthrough That Solar Energy Has Been Waiting For? Revolutionary Solar From Israel


Professor Faiman At the Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Research Center deep in the Negev Desert in Israel, Professor David Faiman has developed some amazing results with his research into solar energy. Despite the Research Center's humble surroundings, the work going on is at the cutting edge of solar technology. It could even change the way we produce energy world wide.

The head of the research center is Prof. David Faiman. He is very passionate about his work and does not pass up a chance to talk about the research. The focus of his research centers around a Dish, that at first glance, looks more like a giant satellite station than a mirror designed to concentrate the sun's rays. What the mirror does is focus the sun's rays onto a single point that becomes super-heated from this concentration.

Professor Faiman is able to concentrate the sun's rays equal to 1000 times their original strength. By concentrating the rays he is able to create incredible amounts of electricity.

Solar Concentrator Professor Faiman says that by concentrating the light a thousand times, they are able to produce 1,500 watts from a cell that under normal circumstances is only able to produce one watt.

Faiman and his colleagues by experimenting with using concentrated sunlight and a very durable solar panel have been able to produce more electricity than ever thought possible. By most accounts, this is the breakthrough that solar energy has been waiting for decades to accomplish; make solar energy more practical by reducing the price of production to the point that it is cheaper than coal-fired, nuclear or even hydro-electric plants. "We're effectively reducing the cost of photovoltaic by a factor of 1,000," says Faiman.

Professor Faiman says "it will feel wonderful when I see the first solar power plant using this technology. Until I see that, it's just another theoretical paper."
Professor Faiman and his colleagues realize that it could be several years before their experiments pay off with real world results. But what they envision in the not too distant future are dishes like theirs dotting the Negev desert and eventually supply 100% of the electrical energy needs of Israel.
"Take 120 kilometers of highway," he says, "and take 50 meters on each side of the road. That's twelve square kilometers. That's enough for building 1,000 megawatts of generating capacity. So, you can simply have these dishes in a line, hooked up to the overhead power line, and you've basically used land that's not used for anything else."

It would be easy to write off Faiman as some fanciful dreamer, if where not for the fact that his breakthrough solar technology was already producing power; not in Israel, but in the United States - in California's Mojave Desert. And of course the Mojave Desert is the perfect place to build the world's largest plant dedicated entirely to producing solar power.