Israel

Last edited: 22 March 2024

Events[]

Featured international events[]

NEW: 11-22 November 2024 (Baku, Azerbaijan ): COP29 - The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, will be the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference to be held at Baku Stadium. More information...

12-14 March 2025 (Bridgetown, Barbados): Sustainable Energy for All Global Forum - Building on Prime Minister Mottley’s Bridgetown Initiative for the reform of development finance, the Forum will address the challenge of how we can mobilize sufficient finance on the right terms to meet global goals, especially for the most underserved communities, countries and regions – such as Small Island Developing States. The event wil be co-hosted by Sustainable Energy for All and the Government of Barbados, led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. Project site visits will take place Friday, 14 March. More information...

Requests for proposal[]

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 15th December 2024 - Advances in Solar Thermal Food Processing (CONSOLFOOD2025) is being planned for the 5th, 6th and 7th of May, 2025 in Marseille, France. The gathering expects to attract, once again, top experts from all over the world to present and discuss topics related to advances in solar food processing and solar cooking. An exhibition of solar cookers will be available for viewing during the conference at the nearby the solar restaurant Le Présage. The solar restaurant, along with the demonstration cookers, will produce a solar lunch. The whole conference program will be delivered in hybrid format, so those who register, but are not present at Marseille, will be able to participate online. Your abstracts should be sent via email to Celestino Ruivo at cruivo@ualg.pt in .doc, .docx, or pdf format. You should limit your abstract to 400 words, and follow these guidelines. All abstracts will be reviewed and assessed by members of the scientific committee. The organizing committee will inform each author whether their submitted abstract has been accepted. The committee encourages all authors to write an optional full length paper for inclusion in our conference proceedings. Successful authors should pre-record their presentations, using Powerpoint, or similar software. They will be invited to submit either a) a short presentation, of about 7 minutes duration, or b) a longer presentation, of about 25 minutes to cruivo@ualg.pt by 30th March 2025. The expected conference fee is 200 euros before 1st April 2025. Interested people facing financial difficulties should contact the organizing committee.

See also: Global Calendar of Events and past events in Israel

News[]

July 2020: Solar cooking resource - Daniel Feuermann has created an online resource for Israeli citizens to be able to learn about solar cooking and affordably purchase solar cookers. See: Sun & Cook

UNDP Gaza program, 2019 — 2019 UNDP program distributes solar cookers to Gaza communities, *Photo credit: UNDP*

January 2019: UNDP solar cooker program offered in Gaza - As part of the efforts made by UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People to mitigate the harsh socio-economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, 47 vulnerable families received solar cooking ovens to improve their livelihoods. Families were selected based on their vulnerability status, family size, persons with disability within the family and the viability of their house to absorb energy. Read more...

Anera in Gaza July 2017 — One of 160 families in Gaza using solar cookers, *Photo credit: anera*

July 2017: In Gaza, 160 families are using sunlight for cooking, reducing their dependency on fuel and electricity

January 2017: Israel experiments with off-grid Kibbutz - Israel’s off-grid demonstration village at the Ketura Kibbutz in the Negev Desert, north of the Red Sea, is an attempt to show what is possible with renewable energy sources. Demonstration homes are to include evacuated tube solar cookers. Read more... - Decentralized Energy

Research[]

The National Physical Laboratory of Israel (NPLI) in 1996 experimented with the building of a solar concentrating type cooker. The design and materials used created an efficient cooker.

The promoting group was initially operating on the assumption that any solar cooker should lend itself to construction in local villages, largely around cost issues - that is, the intent was to serve the poor of the nation. That goal put considerable constraint on the venture, leading Harry Tabor, author of an article in the proceedings of the Varese Conference (1999), to suggest that while the appliance could be made or assembled locally, the critical elements could only be made in central shops (or even overseas). The NPLI research was limited to parabolic cookers, but the article argues that the principle pertains to box cookers as well. As example, glass cut to appropriate size(s), reliable and weather resistant hinges, bright aluminum in sheets, etc. could be prepared in regional workshops, while the insulation materials, wood, paint could be purchased locally.

Several companies and universities are continuing research on improving the solar oven, notably among them are the famed Weizmann Institute and Schatz Laboratories for Solar Energy Development.

History[]

A history of solar energy use

Israel has a history of developing solar heating, with a law requiring solar heat collectors for hot water on every building. In fact, more than 83% of houses have solar water heating installed on the roofs. Luz, one of the largest solar heating companies in the world in the late 80's until 1999, and today two of the largest solar heating energy companies in the world are both located near the city of Beit Shemesh (meaning in Hebrew: The House of the Sun): Sollel and Luz II. Also, a large portion of the Weitzman institute consists of one of the largest solar collector tower and basin in the world.

solar cooking has continued to be prevalent, and in almost all Hebrew and English forums that deal with sustainable systems, there have been requests and sharing of information, with new blogs and websites dedicated to the subject. Climatic circumstances for solar cooking are close to ideal, and various initiatives including government sponsored advertising call for Israeli citizens to use solar ovens, and NGOs have been advancing the technology. Rachel Andres, recipient of the Bronfman Prize, and originator of the solar cooking initiative in Darfur, was closely followed by Israeli media, with a project involving many Jewish communities worldwide. The images in the Israeli media, as well as the article content, left the impression that this was an Israeli project...

It seems that the invention of using a car sunscreen as a solar cooker was originally posted on the Internet on an Israel Hebrew solar cooking website, and it is possible that the writers were actually the inventors of this idea. (It should be noted that it may be that that website was translated and not the original source. No names are listed on the site.) Public festivals on national holidays typically have included public solar cooking as a standard activity. Also, summer camp solar cooking activities are prevalent. News about these events and activities frequently reached the media.

Solar cooking was mentioned in the Jewish holy scripts of the Mishna (compiled approx. 200 BC to 100 AD) written in Hebrew. The texts refer to the Mishnaic and Talmudic discussions on whether solar cooking was allowed on the Sabbath day (Saturday), when cooking or creating a fire is not permitted, stating that cooking done by the sun would be permitted on the Sabbath. They state that solar cooking is the "produce of the Sun, not produce of man-made fire".

In orthodox Jewish "Rabbinic" writings on Jewish rituals, this topic is discussed at length, especially due to the mandatory solar water heaters on every roof in Israel. Several orthodox Ashkenazi Jews have often used the sun as a solution for warming lunch at noon, which otherwise would be prohibited according to their customs. This applies only to dry foods, and only if the heat is received directly from the sun rays, and not by passing the heat and warmth via any other material (such as warm sand).

A Canadian visitor to Israel, Randy Shulman, lived in a southern remote kibbutz for some months, where she attempted to introduce solar cooking to her hosts.

The turning point for the spread of knowledge about solar cooking in Israel may have been the widespread advertising in all newspapers about a family in Netanya, who learned solar cooking from Swiss friends around the year 2003.

It is now quite common to see solar cooking at many settings in Israel.

Jewish and Arab cooperation in solar cooking

Several joint initiatives have taken place in Israel, for learning about and practicing solar cooking. Especially notable, was the northern Israeli religious Jewish Kaditha village solar cooking outing held for Arab teachers from Galilee and Palestinian teachers from the Palestinian National Authority. The goal being, to successfully take their new solar cooking skills back to their own communities.

Bedouins

An initiative to bring solar cooking to Bedouins (nomad Arab tribes in southern Israel), was started by Devora Brous, Founder of Bustan NGO, angry at Israeli government attitude and actions towards the Bedouins. These Bedouin tribes have been in a dispute with the Israeli government regarding Jewish establishment on land ownership in the Negev desert area. Bustan a grass-roots NGO is still working with the Bedouin people and solar cooking is used as an alternative to the traditional small fire cooking. Solar cooking is also a solution for villages not connected to the electrical grid.

Israelis have also participated in teaching Palestinians in the Palestinian Authority about solar ovens, and solar cooking activity. This is usually part of Anti-Israeli establishment activities.

In Bet Shemesh (Literally: Home of the Sun) the local Sustainability Center holds regular workshops showing various types of solar cookers and holds workshops teaching baking and cooking with solar cookers.

Main article: History of solar cooking

Archived articles

Climate and culture[]

In the south and eastern desert areas, including cities such as Eilat and villages such as Ein Gedi, temperatures typically reach 40 °C (104 °F) in the summer days. Solar cooking can be done in these regions on any dark (or sometimes even white) metal or sand. Soldiers and bedouin nomads are known to fry eggs or warm up cans of food directly in the sand, and residents of the cities in these locations, especially in the Arava area, may cook a meal, simply by placing it in the sun, without any solar oven.

In all of Israel, cloudy days account for only 40% of the year at most. In recent years there has been a haze caused mainly by dust from construction covering many of the buildings, and by pollution primarily from transportation. Even so, conditions in Israel are ideal for solar cooking most of the year.

See also

The climate of Israel - Wikipedia
Israel Energy Situation - Energypedia
Solar cooker dissemination and cultural variables

Resources[]

Possible funding[]

Construction plans in Arabic[]

CooKit
CooKit variation (made from smaller pieces of cardboard)
Minimum Box Cooker
Solar Water Pasteurizer

Documents[]

English reports[]

January 2018:' *10th Grade High School Physics Education via Solar Cooking - Hezi Yizhaq & Daniel Feuermann
January 2017: On High School Physics and Student Assistance in Introducing Solar Cooking to Bedouin - Hezi Yizhaq and Daniel Feuermann
Angry founder of Bustan, at Israeli government attitude and actions towards the Bedouins, she founded this grass-roots organization
Jewish worldwide support for Darfur Solar Oven project: Synagogues, temples (synagogues of the Jewish-Reform movement) and other Jewish organizations in the US, and world-wide supporting the project.
Boy invents solar oven at camp
Israeli research institute developing solar oven and other solar technologies

Hebrew reports[]

Making a solar oven from a Pizza cover
Israeli government Ministry of Ecology calls for Israeli citizens to use solar ovens, and to teach about them at schools. Also included is information about the Weizman institute solar heating project, which reached 10,000 times the radiance of the sun at ground level.

Articles in the media[]

English media[]

June 2012: Solar Cooking in the Village of Peace - African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem

Lotan-solar-seder-jews-photo-passover-500x375 — Solar Seder at Kibbutz Lotan

November 2008: Solar Cooking Ovens: Another Eco-Solution from the Gaza Strip - Green Prophet
October 2007: The Joy of (Out of the Box) Cooking
Rachel Andres, Israeli woman who had solar oven intiative for Darfur women
Solar cooking lecture at Kibbutz Lotan among other news from solar cooking world.

Hebrew media[]

Using a car window cover as a solar oven panel Great invention!
Some recipies and the claim that solar ovens are originally from Switzerland (at least these people learned of it there).

Audio and video[]

NEW: September 2024:

Gazan_creates_solar_devices_to_combat_fuel,_water_shortages_-_REUTERS-2 — Gazan creates solar devices to combat fuel, water shortages - REUTERS-2

July 2023: Using a black or shiny stainless steel cooking pot

S2A4_Daniel_Feuermann_(Israel)-_Are_stainless_steel_pots_suitable_for_solarcooking? — S2A4 Daniel Feuermann (Israel)- Are stainless steel pots suitable for solarcooking?

External links[]

NGOs based in or working in the Israel[]

Lotan Center for Creative Ecology

City Tree NGO making the city greener

Hebrew pages[]

Contacts[]

The entities listed below are either based in Israel, or have initiated solar cooking projects there: