Hi friends,
As you know, agriculture and farmers all over the world have been subsidized by the government. In Israel, the government does not give subsidies and we have to find ways that will enable us to earn money from agriculture. Israel has a lot of sunlight and so, there are several experiments all over the country doing combinations between agricultural crops covered by solar panels.
One of the projects that I visited last week operating in Ramat Hanegev is covering 30 different vineyard species by solar panels. The leaf crop is controlled by special sensors that report when the pores of the leaves are closed because of the heat. This is the time that the solar panel changes its direction and makes sheds for the crops to reduce the heat stress. This project runs over three years and it seems that the results are optimistic. The farmers will get money from the solar panels and with this money, they will be able “to buy wine” that they are growing. This project is also monitored by economic experts that try to find the balance between the basic investment and the end results.
Attached are 2 photos. Sorry for not clicking pictures of the sensors as I was not allowed to do it.
Best regards,
Ze’ev
