“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”  (Genesis 12:2)

One of the ways that God is fulfilling His promise that Israel will be a blessing to the world is through its advances in technology, science and other innovations.

The Negev Desert, where the above solar trough is located, and the surrounding area, including the Arava Valley, has become the center of the Israeli solar industry.

As the world energy demands continue to grow, solar power represents a promising alternative.

However, the efficiency of solar panels is reduced by dirt and grime.

Enter the world’s first self-cleaning solar park in Israel’s Arava Valley, where every night 100 Israeli-built robots clean off dusty PV panels, increasing production by as much as 35% at Kibbutz Ketura.

These robots represent a real solution for solar energy farms, most of which are located in the wide open spaces of deserts where the sun is strong, the dust is everywhere, and water is scarce.

The robotic cleaning method has added an additional 9 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year to the plant.  (Times of Israel)

Israel’s Knesset (parliament) and the Knesset Menorah

Israel is so committed to green energy that the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) itself is going sunny-side up, with some 4,500 square meters of solar panels to be installed on its roof.  The panels are expected to reduce the Knesset`s consumption of electricity and gas by a third.

“The solar array on the Knesset`s roof will be the largest among those installed in parliaments around the world,” Knesset Speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein recently said.  “Currently, the largest solar array is situated on the roof of the Bundestag and it covers 3,600 square meters.  From Zion shall come the Torah of renewable energy.  I believe that if we will be at the forefront of the effort to initiate and implement green energy solutions, we will be able to once again become a ‘Light Unto the Nations.’”