ISRAEL

Cheap, solar-generated electricity has now
become a reality with the
successful testing of a prototype solar device at the
Weizmann Institute of
Science, Israel. It produces
sufficient hot air from the
sun's rays to drive the turbines of a 50 kw power station. The funnel-shaped
device focuses the energy
through a quartz window to
heat ceramic pins around
which air flows. Internal
mirrors direct the rays to
concentrate the energy. They
can concentrate the energy
to 10,000 kw per sq m. The
energy is absorbed by an
array of ceramic pins which
transfer the heat to the surrounding air very efficiently.
The technology could come
handy in any size of power
station, from small industrial
generators to large stations
supplying power to a national
grid. Researcher Jacob Karni
says that a solar plant in
Israel's southern desert could
make the country one of the leading exporters of electricity.