The Power of the Sun—Israeli Companies and the Race for Clean Energy

By Rebecca Grossman, Program Director, The David H. Sonabend Center for Israel

Every time we turn on a light, plug in our computer, use the dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator, washer/dryer, or turn on the hot water, we use electricity. We pull it from the grid, our cities and towns connected by wires above or below ground. This energy comes from gas, fossil fuels, solar power, wind, and other renewable sources.

Much of the focus on climate change is a shift to renewable clean energy. Though specifically an energy island that is completely self-sufficient in relation to its neighbors, only 8% of the energy Israel produces each year is renewable, as of 2021. Comparatively, in the United States, in 2022 renewable energy resources accounted for 13% of the primary energy consumption, and 21.5% of total utility scale electricity generation. Why does this matter? How does our electricity use feed into climate change and pollution? What can we do about it?

To answer these questions, we went to check out how Israeli companies are working to include clean energy into the fabric of our society.

What Is the Problem?

Energy is a key element of the modern world. The unit of measurement, watts, is how much energy it takes to power an item per second. “It takes about .1 watts to power a smartphone, a thousand to power your house, a million for a small town, and a billion for a mid-size city. As of 2020, it takes 3 trillion watts to power the entire world.” Israel itself consumes 59.19 billion kWh of electric energy per year, which translates to an average per capita of 6,321 kWh. The demand for power is only going to continue to increase as more people join the grid.

As an initial source of energy, we used fossil fuels to fill our needs. They are “cheap and convenient, easy to ship, and easy to turn into electricity on demand.” However, when they are burned they release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, causing harmful air pollution, impairing our breathing, visibility, and even altering plant growth and causing algae to grow faster, decreasing oxygen levels in water and harmfully changing the aquatic systems for our fish and water sources. These emissions come from our cars and trucks, coal-fired power plants, large industrial operations, and ships and airplanes.

With an increase in demand, depletion of resources, and increased harm that befalls us when using our original sources of energy, it is crucial we find other sources.

What Is Clean Energy? How Does It Help?

In addition to reducing our usage of energy and improving the efficiency of our appliances, it is key that we turn to clean energy.

“Clean energy is energy that comes from renewable, zero emission sources that do not pollute the atmosphere when used, as well as energy saved by energy efficiency measures.”

Some terms that are used in this space that may seem interchangeable are clean energy, green energy, and renewable energy. While similar, clean energy refers to that which is produced with clean air; green energy comes from natural resources; and renewable energy comes from recyclable sources. By turning to clean energy, we are able to both find new sources of energy to be able to sustain our increase in demand, as well as promote our environmental well-being. The main sources of clean energy are as follows:

• Solar

• Wind

• Water

• Geothermal—“Geothermal energy is heat energy from the earth.”

• Bioenergy

• Nuclear—“Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity, provides around 6 percent of the world's energy.”

• Hydrogen and fuel cells—“Fuel cells offer a highly efficient and fuel flexible technology that cleanly produces power and heat with low or zero emissions.”

Unfortunately, not all clean energy is without cost. For example, China’s Three Gorges Dam, which in 2018 generated 101.6 billion kilowatt-hours, enough electricity to power New York City for almost two years, was created by flooding over 600 square kilometers of land upstream, including 13 cities, hundreds of villages, and over 1,000 historical and archaeological sites. I am not sure those roughly 1.4 million people who were displaced were so pleased with this endeavor.

Israeli Innovations

Israeli scientists took to this problem, pushing Israel to be a primary world leader in the clean energy ecosystem, ranking second (behind Silicon Valley) in a cleantech edition of the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) from Startup Genome. There are more than 100 companies in Israel in the energytech sector.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Israel Innovation Authority teamed together to fund six clean energy projects, which received a total of $5.48 million in 2022. The projects ranged from sulfur thermal energy storage, energy and resource recovery from hazardous organic waste, to an ultra-portable turbo generator system and ways to reduce supply chain waste.

Israeli energy projects also endeavor to create opportunities for clean energy to be used by the people. The Tel Aviv solar roof project “seeks to put the roofs of residential apartments and commercial buildings to work producing solar energy to reduce the cost of living and preserve the environment.” SOLRA uses semi-transparent cells that can be affixed to buildings as solar windows. Many Israeli power plants are engaging in new technologies, such as BrightSource Energy, Zenith Solar, and Aora’s solar thermal gas-turbine power station.

Lumiweave

In 2020, product designer Anai Green was one of four inventors who won the 2nd International C40 Women4Climate Tech Challenge. The award was for her development of “the world’s first embedded solar-power harvesting and illuminating fabric.” In my conversation with her partner, Tal Parnes, he explained that Green’s inspiration was simply to combine the dual issue of the need for shade in the heat along with the need for illumination at night. As such, she came up with a fabric that has embedded capabilities of harvesting solar power on its top side, and providing illumination on its bottom, creating a completely green, standalone, off-grid solution to outdoor needs.

Lumiweave’s mission is to “utilize our groundbreaking patented technology to improve human outdoor well-being through shade and light, provided when and where they are needed, while eliminating carbon footprint and light pollution.” Since there is no need to hook up to the grid, the only certifications needed are those for installing the shade element, making the process of installation much easier. Furthermore, because they use a 12 volt DC, the product is safe to exist near water sources, on beaches, and around children and playgrounds. Their mobile application allows the user to control both the time the lights go on or off, as well as the level of light, working in tandem with a motion sensor and light sensor. This allows the Lumiweave shade to increase the level of light produced when there are people present.

Lumiweave already has several installations around Israel, working with the municipality for shade/light solutions in several public parks, walkways, and fitness areas, and is currently expanding to the hospitality industry. Some other industries they are exploring are the auto industry, camping gear market, and the maritime market with yachts and small boats. Individual consumers may not be too far behind!

Ignite the Spark

A unique element in the Israeli industry is Ignite the Spark, a non-profit organization that holds the energy tech ecosystem network, covering around 4,000 individuals. Through Facebook, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp groups, Ignite the Spark engages the entire ecosystem to create opportunities to share knowledge, connect knowledge, and help facilitate these opportunities. In my conversation with Shon Dana, the CEO, he explained the variety and depth of engagement of the organization. Mainly run by volunteers, the organization spans all stages, from the academia stage to entrepreneurs, guiding through a few different stages from pre-ideation or ideation to creation.

Not only does Ignite the Spark assist in developing initiatives in each of its eight academic cells, but it also provides the first softlab connection bridge from the Academy to industry. They participate in and lead conferences, host events, and speak in classrooms to build the network and connect researchers with real world opportunities and financing. They build events and engagements that promote cross-connection between different areas, such as energy and fintech, to allow for deeper and more creative initiatives and opportunities. They also host annual investor events, the most recent of which had 400 people in person and 300 more online, with 28 partners from 12 different countries represented.

Since Ignite the Spark covers the entire energy tech ecosystem, in addition to providing the best connections and financing, they also understand the intricacies of building up an initiative and provide specific guidance with regard to brainstorming an idea, their validation and implementation, and eventually help them to find the cofounder. Additionally, they help with a small support for a grant with investments, partners who have domain experts locally and globally, IP legal parameters, and help think through regulations and other obstacles that might need to be addressed.

Going forward, Ignite the Spark is building an energy and innovation center in Israel, providing a physical hub for the energy ecosystem to meet, hold conferences, engage, and provide an opportunity for delegations from abroad to come as well.

What Can We Do?

Solar is part of building the future. Many scientists, businesses, and governments are working toward democratizing energy: scaling up these solutions so that every home and factory has its own supply of energy. Off-grid solutions like solar energy could allow over a billion people around the world to gain access to energy without the high cost of connecting to the grid.

Solar also has the potential to be beautiful. Marjan van Aubel is creating a plethora of designs that integrate solar energy into various partnership projects: more efficient and aesthetic solar crystal chandeliers, solar power modern stained glass windows, and even a solar powered greenhouse.

In the energy tech world, we see more and more emphasis on resilience and self-sustainability, with more and more companies and startups evolving, more products being distributed to shift the energy usage equation, and a shift from Cyber and Fintech entrepreneurs to be part of this. These innovations will be seen in the markets and shift the ways we consume our energy.

All of these inventions might feel so removed from ourselves, with most of their applications occurring in the production side of the energy ecosystem. However, there are ways in which we can all choose clean energy. New York is on a positive path forward, with all of the clean energy projects already underway being able to support 66% of New York’s power needs. Clean Path is providing all New Yorkers access to renewable energy from New York State. You can purchase electric cars, get solar panels for your own home, and simply be mindful of how much energy you use.

Israelis think about it every day, living in the heat and understanding why climate change is a crucial issue now. With less friendly neighbors, Israel needed to pour its innovative capabilities into the energy tech ecosystem in order to be self-sustaining. Unfortunately, neither the United States nor Israel are close to where we want to be in our use of clean energy. Let us work together to make the world a cleaner and greener place: the kind of power we use is itself powerful.