Zenith Solar was an Israeli

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...

company based in

Ness Ziona Ness Ziona ( he, נֵס צִיּוֹנָה, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a town in central Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams (). History Early history Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of an Arab vi ...

History

Zenith Solar was founded in 2006 by Roy Segev,

David Faiman David Faiman (born 1944 in the United Kingdom) is a British and Israeli physicist. Background Faiman was educated at Willesden County Grammar School and the University of London, and received his Ph.D from the University of Illinois in 1969. Af ...

and Bob Whelen.At the Zenith of Solar Energy
, Neal Sandler, ''

Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'', March 26, 2008. In 2007, David Faiman, director of the

Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center The 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 ...

, announced that the Center had entered into a project with Zenith to create a home solar energy system that uses a 10 square meter reflector dish.Reflective mirrors seen raising solar potential
Ari Rabinovitch,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, August 10, 2007. Zenith bought the rights to solar technology from

Ben-Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

and Germany's

Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (or Fraunhofer ISE) is an institute of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Located in Freiburg, Germany, The Institute performs applied scientific and engineering research and development for all ar ...

to create solar energy using mirrors and lenses that magnify and focus the sun's rays. In testing, the concentrated solar technology proved to be up to five times more efficient than standard flat

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...

panels, which would make it almost as cheap as oil and natural gas. A prototype ready for commercialization achieved a concentration of solar energy that was more than 1,000 times greater than standard flat panels. According to Faiman, who led the Israeli team that developed the technology, 10% of Israel’s energy needs (1,000

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...

) could be met from 12 square kilometres of land.Zenith Solar’s Light of a Thousand Suns
''Green Prophet'', December 17, 2007 Zenith Solar was assembling solar panel kits at its factory in

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat, also spelled Qiryat Gat ( he, קִרְיַת גַּת), is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and from Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most a ...

.Born-again Ziontist revolutionizing solar energy field

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

The company used CHP (combined heat and power) technology which it claimed reached efficiencies of over 70%. Marketing claims included "harvesting more energy from a smaller space, less landfill produced from their waste." and "99% recyclable." In June 2013 Zenith filed for bankruptcy and in December of that year they were acquired by

Suncore Photovoltaics Suncore Photovoltaic Technology Company Limited ("Suncore") is a solar energy company that specializes in concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), an emerging photovoltaic (PV) technology. The company manufactures, develops, and finances CPV systems f ...

Technology Company Limited, a Chinese-US joint venture that specialises in CPV.China's Suncore represented by Barnea & Co. acquired the assets of Israel's Zenith Solar
, Barnea & Co

References

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External links

Zenith Solar websiteSuncore photovoltaic technology website
Solar energy in Israel Energy companies established in 2006 Renewable energy technology companies Technology companies of Israel Israeli companies established in 2006 Technology companies established in 2006

History

See also

References

External links