WThe use of solar energy began in Israel in the 1950s with the development by Levi Yissar of a solar water heater to address the energy shortages that plagued the new country. By 1967 around 5% of water of households was solar heated and 50,000 solar heaters had been sold. With the 1970s oil crisis, Harry Zvi Tabor developed the prototype of the solar water heater now used in over 90% of Israeli homes. There are over 1.3 million solar water heaters installed as a result of mandatory solar water heating regulations.
WThe Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center at Midreshet Ben-Gurion is the national alternative energy research institute of Israel. It was established in 1987 by the Ministry of National Infrastructures to study promising alternative and clean energy technologies, particularly those involving solar power. Since July 1991 the center has been operated by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research. Its director is David Faiman.
WDavid Faiman is a British and Israeli physicist.
WThe Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research is part of the Ben-Gurion University, and is located in the Midreshet Ben-Gurion campus in the centre of the Negev desert in Israel.
WKetura is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located north of Eilat in the Aravah Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Eilot Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 471.
WThe Solar Garden is an idealistic center in Binyamina, Israel, approximately 40 kilometers south of Haifa on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The center focuses mainly on solar energy and other alternative sources of energy power. Furthermore, The Solar Garden develops small-scale techniques to preserve the environment, such as a garbage-sorting and a recycling project based on a wide range of reusable materials, the production of compost and aquaponic systems.
WHarry Zvi Tabor was an Israeli physicist. He is known as the father of Israeli solar energy. He is generally credited with having brought Israel's solar energy program to international prominence.