by Pincas Jawetz (PJ@SustainabiliTank.info)

Tel Aviv, Israel, December 22, 2005

Darajat, located north of the Be’er Sheva-Dimona road in the Negev, in Israel, is the only Arab village in the Negev whose residents are agricultural laborers as oposed to the Bedouin nomads. The village was established 150 years ago by the Abu Hamad clan from the Mount Hebron area.

Until recently 24 private generators fueled the community. Now the Negev Development Authority and MK Shimon Peres’ office for developing the Negev and Galilee, among others, enlisted with Interdan, a private natural-electricity company, to build here a solar electricity system.

The village has 95 houses and in the first stage 20 households, the science room of the local school, the mosque, and the street lights were linked to the new system. In addition, independently operated systems were also installed in each village house. The roofs have been fitted with eight m2 solar panels and a small unit with a converter and batteries that supplies electricity at nights and on cloudy days. Interdan promises that the system can operate continuously for four days without direct sunlight, or for a week with partly cloudy skies. When the village gets connected also to the grid - there will be bidirectional electricity meters, and the villagers will be able to sell surplus electricity to the grid. Peres who attended the inaugural on December 20, promised that funding will be found to finish the job. When completed,
there will be electricity for all lights and for use of all appliances except air conditioning and heating.