A U.S. environmentalist, commenting on a newly announced solar power plant in Israel’s Negev Desert, attested to Israeli expertise in the field.

Seth Kaplan, senior attorney, U.S. Conservation Law Foundation: “There is intense interest in this sort of ‘concentrated solar’ technology in parts of the United States, like our desert Southwest, that have similar conditions to the Negev…The U.S. is increasingly looking to Israel for hi-tech innovations…”

According to Israeli solar energy authority Professor David Faiman, the two biggest solar energy installations in the world at present have 80-megawatt capacities. They were constructed under Faiman’s supervison in Southern California by Luz, an Israeli company. The new Negev solar power plant will grow to 500 megawatts. No specifics have been announced about the Nigeria plant.

Solel now holds Luz’s patents, has made advances and is testing the viability of the Direct Steam Generation (DSG) Loop Luz. Replacing the original oil-heating loop with one that employs DSG in the solar collectors could increase power production 15%. New Solel vacuum tubes have replaced broken tubes in the aging California plants, with 20% to 25% improvement. The California plant upgrades are expected to demonstrate Israeli solar technology to be the best in the world.

Professor David Faiman: “…Solel can verifiably say that local solar technologies are the most advanced in the world with a proven record of high efficiency, high reliability, cleanliness, and low system cost…”

The solar energy plants in the Negev will theoretically produce enough electricity to power Israel - on 225 square kilometers of sun-saturated desert. Nigeria, with a little sun of its own, is in for some New Energy.

California, Israel, Nigeria – a new solar connection. To paraphrase the Beatles, “All you need is sun…”