3.53 min. | 4.5789475 user rating
For more news and videos visit ☛ english.ntdtv.com Follow us on Twitter ☛ http Add us on Facebook ☛ facebook.com A large-scale solar project—Ketura Sun field—was launched in the Negev Desert in Israel by Arava Power Company, who recently partnered with Siemens. With billions of dollars to be invested, another 40 new projects are planned, hoping to boost the country's solar energy production and create jobs. Our correspondent covers the launching ceremony under the boiling sun. Israel is a country bathed in sun, possessing some of the strongest desert heat in the world. In the early 1970s, Israel became the first country to require that every rooftop install a solar power system to generate the energy needed to heat water. But despite that, Israel has never had a big solar power plant. Now, times are changing. The Arava Power company has finished construction of the country's first large solar facility—Ketura sun field—in the Negev Desert. It is producing five megawatts of power. [David Rosenblatt, Vice Chairman, Arava Power]: "The number of consumers that will benefit from that (new power plant) is anticipated to be 8000, but the way that it works is that the field is directly connected to Israel's grid and the Israel electric company distributes the energy as needed." The Siemens corporation recently invested $15 million dollars in Israeli Arava, buying 40% of the company. [Ed Helfman, Chairman, Arava Power]: "They have invested enough money to get 40%, they have ...

4.23 min. | 4.733333 user rating
Europe's first commercial solar plant, situated in Sanlucar la Mayor, 25 km west of Seville, was inaugurated in March 2008. The 11 MW plant, known as PS10, is the first tower technology solar thermoelectric power plant used for commercial purposes in the world and generates electricity to power 6000 homes. 624 heliostats, or movable mirrors, concentrate solar radiation onto a receiver located on a 115 m high tower. Water is turned into steam which is then blasted into turbines to generate power. The PS10 plant is part of the Sanlucar la Mayor Solar Platform which, when completed in 2013, will provide enough energy to power some 180000 homes, or a city the size of Seville.