Renewable energy in Palestine is a small but significant component of the national energy mix, accounting for 1.4% of energy produced in 2012. [1] Palestine has some of the highest rate of solar water heating in the region, [2] and there are a number of solar power projects. A number of issues confront renewable energy development; a lack of national infrastructure and the limited regulatory framework of the Oslo Accords are both barriers to investment.
It has been estimated that solar sources have the potential to account for 13% of energy usage in the Palestinian Territories. [3] Over half of all households in Palestine utilise solar energy heaters, although only 3% of houses depend on it as their main source. [4] A 710kw photovoltaic plant was commissioned in September, 2014 in the vicinity of Jericho; it is the largest plant in Palestine to date. [5] Research has indicated that, although a very high percentage of Palestinian houses are connected to the central grid, powering remote villages with small-scale photovoltaic systems would be more economically feasible than extending the grid. [6]
Israeli authorities seized a solar/diesel hybrid electric system from the Palestinian village of Jubbet ad-Dib in July, 2017. [7] The system was funded by the Dutch government and installed by joint Israeli-Palestinian organisation Comet-ME, leading the Dutch Foreign Ministry to lodge a complaint. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories told reporters that the solar panels were erected “without the necessary permits, and that stop work orders had previously been sent to the village authorities,” [8] although a Haaretz report indicated that the confiscation orders were only delivered during the raid, meaning there was no chance to contest them in court. [9] Residents of the village, located in Area C between a number of Israeli settlements, had been attempting to implement and gain approval for solar power projects since 2009. [10]
It has been estimated that wind energy has the potential to account for 6.6% of energy usage in the Palestinian Territories. [3]
About half of the Palestinian population - mainly in the rural areas, refugee camps, and Bedouins of North and South Governorates - are exposed daily to harmful emissions and other health risks from biomass burning that typically takes place in traditional stoves without adequate ventilation. The majority of individuals exposed to enhanced concentrations of pollutants are women and young children. [11]
The Palestinian Energy Authority (PEA) published a 'General Renewable Energy Strategy' in 2012, aiming for 10% of total domestic energy production and 5% of total energy consumption to come from renewable sources by 2020. [12]
There are a number of barriers to development of renewable energy resources in Palestine, including regulatory issues resulting from the Israeli occupation, [13] and this meant the government was unable to achieve its target of 25 megawatts by 2015. However, renewable energy has a large potential to reduce reliance on imported energy and address a number of social issues. [1]
Renewable energy is useful energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including carbon neutral sources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. The term often also encompasses biomass as well, whose carbon neutral status is under debate. This type of energy source stands in contrast to fossil fuels, which are being used far more quickly than they are being replenished.
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 utilized for electricity generation and as photosensors.
Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
A feed-in tariff is a policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers. Their goal is to offer cost-based compensation to renewable energy producers, providing price certainty and long-term contracts that help finance renewable energy investments. Typically, FITs award different prices to different sources of renewable energy in order to encourage development of one technology over another. For example, technologies such as wind power and solar PV, are awarded a higher price perkWh than tidal power. FITs often include a "degression", a gradual decrease of the price or tariff, in order to follow and encourage technological cost reductions.
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using concentrated solar power, or a combination. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect.
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is a power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. It may also use a solar tracking system to improve the system's overall performance and include an integrated battery solution, as prices for storage devices are expected to decline. Strictly speaking, a solar array only encompasses the ensemble of solar panels, the visible part of the PV system, and does not include all the other hardware, often summarized as balance of system (BOS). As PV systems convert light directly into electricity, they are not to be confused with other solar technologies, such as concentrated solar power or solar thermal, used for heating and cooling.
The levelized cost of energy (LCOE), or levelized cost of electricity, is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generating plant over its lifetime. The LCOE is calculated as the ratio between all the discounted costs over the lifetime of an electricity generating plant divided by a discounted sum of the actual energy amounts delivered. The LCOE is used to compare different methods of electricity generation on a consistent basis. The LCOE "represents the average revenue per unit of electricity generated that would be required to recover the costs of building and operating a generating plant during an assumed financial life and duty cycle." Inputs to LCOE are chosen by the estimator. They can include cost of capital, "fuel costs, fixed and variable operations and maintenance costs, financing costs, and an assumed utilization rate."
Photovoltaic thermal collectors, typically abbreviated as PVT collectors and also known as hybrid solar collectors, photovoltaic thermal solar collectors, PV/T collectors or solar cogeneration systems, are power generation technologies that convert solar radiation into usable thermal and electrical energy. PVT collectors combine photovoltaic solar cells, which convert sunlight into electricity, with a solar thermal collector, which transfers the otherwise unused waste heat from the PV module to a heat transfer fluid. By combining electricity and heat generation within the same component, these technologies can reach a higher overall efficiency than solar photovoltaic (PV) or solar thermal (T) alone.
As of 2019, renewable energy technologies provide about 17.3% of Canada's total primary energy supply. For electricity renewables provide 67%, with 15% from nuclear and 18% from hydrocarbons.
Energy in Malta describes energy production, consumption and import in Malta. Malta has no domestic resource of fossil fuels and no gas distribution network, and relies overwhelmingly on imports of fossil fuels and electricity to cover its energy needs. Since 2015, the Malta–Sicily interconnector allows Malta to be connected to the European power grid and import a significant share of its electricity.
Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, motor fuels, and rural (off-grid) energy services. Based on REN21's 2014 report, renewables contributed 19 percent to our global energy consumption and 22 percent to our electricity generation in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
A rooftop photovoltaic power station, or rooftop PV system, is a photovoltaic (PV) system that has its electricity-generating solar panels mounted on the rooftop of a residential or commercial building or structure. The various components of such a system include photovoltaic modules, mounting systems, cables, solar inverters and other electrical accessories.
Electricity in Cyprus is managed by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. Power is primarily generated at three fuel oil-burning stations but the use of distributed renewable energy is expanding.
During the first decade of the new Millennium Italy was the third country after Germany and Spain to experience an unprecedented boom in solar installations after actively promoting solar power through government incentives. In July 2005 the country launched its first "Conto Energia" programme supporting the development of renewable power. Growth in solar installations picked up immediately but it was the years 2009-2013 that saw a boom in installed photovoltaic (PV) nameplate capacity, increasing nearly 15-fold, and 2012's year-end capacity of over 16 GW ranked second in the world after Germany, ahead of the other leading contenders, China, Japan and the United States at that time.
Ethiopia generates most of its electricity from renewable energy, mainly hydropower
Renewable energy in Mexico contributes to 26 percent of electricity generation in Mexico. As of 2009, electricity generation from renewable energy comes from hydro power, geothermal, solar power and wind. There is a long term effort established to increase the use of renewable energy sources. The amount of geothermal energy used and harvested, places Mexico as number four in the world.
A captive power plant, also called autoproducer or embedded generation, is an electricity generation facility used and managed by an industrial or commercial energy user for their own energy consumption. Captive power plants can operate off-grid or they can be connected to the electric grid to exchange excess generation.
Renewable energy in South Africa is energy generated in South Africa from renewable resources, those that naturally replenish themselves—such as sunlight, wind, tides, waves, rain, biomass, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy focuses on four core areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural energy services. The energy sector in South Africa is an important component of global energy regimes due to the country's innovation and advances in renewable energy. South Africa's contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is ranked as moderate and its per capita emission rate is higher than the global average. Energy demand within the country is expected to rise steadily and double by 2025.
Floating solar refers to a solar power production installation mounted on a structure that floats on a body of water, typically an artificial basin or a lake.
Soiling is the accumulation of material on light-collecting surfaces in solar power systems. The accumulated material blocks or scatters incident light, which leads to a loss in power output. Typical soiling materials include mineral dust, bird droppings, fungi, lichen, pollen, engine exhaust, and agricultural emissions. Soiling affects conventional photovoltaic systems, concentrated photovoltaics, and concentrated solar (thermal) power. However, the consequences of soiling are higher for concentrating systems than for non-concentrating systems. Note that soiling refers to both the process of accumulation, and the accumulated material itself.
Media related to Renewable energy in Palestine at Wikimedia Commons
| Africa | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | |||||
| Europe |
| ||||
| North America | |||||
| Oceania | |||||
| South America | |||||
| |||||
