June 18, 2015 – The Bank of Israel has issued the Israel 67th Anniversary Coin highlighting the impressive solar energy developments in Israel. The coin is available in various denominations and versions.
Israel / NIS 2 / silver .999 / 31.1 g / 38.7 mm / Design: Ruben Nutels (obverse), Meir Eshel (reverse) / Mintage: 2,800 // Also available as NIS 10 / gold .917 / 16.96 g / 30 mm / Mintage: 555 // NIS 1 / silver .925 / 14.4 g / 30 mm / Mintage: 1,800 and sets.
The coin’s obverse shows the face value, the Israel State Emblem, “Israel” in English, Hebrew and Arabic, the mint year, a decoration representing the sun and its rays. On the reverse is written “Solar Energy in Israel” in English, Hebrew and Arabic, the sun shining directly on to a solar panel, lighting up cells within the panel that form the shape of a Menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum.
Israel’s abundance of strong sunshine and technological capabilities have enabled the development of solar power. The southern desert region with its highest levels of solar radiation in the world is an excellent source for this. Derived from sunlight, solar energy is renewable and clean, as opposed to other forms of polluting fuels. For this form of energy, global demand is constantly growing.
The first commercial solar field in Israel, converting sunlight to electricity by use of solar panels, was launched in 2011. Today, this field produces 9 million kilowatt hours per year for the Israel Electricity Company. At the beginning of 2014, eleven more solar fields were inaugurated, six of them located in the desert south. Recently, some 1,500 solar panels were unloaded onto the Knesset rooftop for the Knesset’s solar field, which is to create about 10% of the Knesset’s electricity and reduce its energy use by a third.
Israeli engineers are at the cutting edge of solar energy technology and Israeli Solar Companies today work on projects around the world. Israel is now the world’s largest per capita user of domestic solar water heaters.
According to the International Energy Agency, solar energy, in the future, may well become the major source of electricity.
For more information on this and other Israeli coins go to the Israel Mint website.
You can read an article on Israel’s Negev project in the Times of Israel.
The Solar Energy in Israel website offers plenty of information on the subject.