Israel demolishing solar panels, depriving Palestinian of electricity

Hundreds of Palestinians will be left without electricity should Israel’s order for the demolition of 8 solar panels in the West Bank go ahead, in what many say is an attempt to drive Palestinians out of the Israeli-controlled part of the territory.

“We are suspended between heaven and earth; the solar panels were a glimmer of hope for us,” Ali Mohamed Ihrizat, the village head of Imenizil, one of the places where the solar panels are scheduled to be demolished, told Agence France-Presse.

The panels were constructed by international charities, but the Israeli authorities say they were built without permission.

Guy Inbar, a spokesman for the Israeli military, has explained the decision: “Using the backing of international assistance does not give immunity to violations.”

This is just the latest standoff in Area C – a festering flashpoint of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict where the battles are fought not with guns and rockets, but permits and bulldozers.

Created under the Oslo Accords in 1995, it constitutes nearly two-thirds of the West Bank, and is administered by Israel. More than 300,000 Jews live there alongside 70,000 Palestinians.

Over the past decade Israel has freely given Area C’s Jewish residents permits to build entire new “settlements,” which Israel’s critics have branded a form of colonization by stealth. In turn, Israel has routinely rejected over 90 per cent of Palestinian applications for construction and demolished nearly 2,000 Palestinian buildings in the last decade.

While the Israeli settlements are hooked up to the Israeli water and electricity grid, the Palestinian settlements have to rely on wells and generators.

“The denial of permits for Palestinians on such a large scale raises the fear that there is a specific policy by the authorities to encourage a ‘silent transfer’ of the Palestinian population from Area C,” claims Peace Now, an Israeli think-tank sympathetic to Palestinians.

This is where the solar panels come in. Funded by European governments, NGOs have built dozens of these devices across Area C, serving an estimated 1,500 Palestinians. Each panel costs tens of thousands of dollars.

An unnamed UN source told the Guardian that the demolition is not random. “From December 2010 to April 2011, we saw a systematic targeting of the water infrastructure in Hebron, Bethlehem and the Jordan valley,” the source said. “Now, in the last couple of months, they are targeting electricity. Two villages in the area have had their electrical poles demolished. There is this systematic effort by the civil administration targeting all Palestinian infrastructure in Hebron.”

A legal challenge by activist group Rabbis for Human Rights has temporarily frozen the demolition orders, though there are no plans as yet to cancel them.

Noam Dotan, an Israeli who heads one of the NGOs that installed the panels, says the Israeli plan is immoral and self-defeating. He told AFP, “The panels are not a security threat. It’s a positive project. What do they want? Do they want the people to be more poor? To be more violent?”

Solar energy facility gains OK in Howell

The Howell Zoning Board of Adjustment has unanimously approved preliminary and final site plans for a 17- megawatt solar energy facility to be constructed at the southwest corner of the intersection of Route 33 and Fairfield Road.

Rock Solid Realty, the applicant, was granted a use variance for the 100-acre site. A use variance was required because a solar energy facility is not a permitted used at the location, which is zoned for commercial and residential development.

In accordance with state law, the applicant vacated its original approvals for the site before the board members voted on the solar farm at a special meeting held Sept. 19.

Attorney Kenneth Pape, representing the applicant, said economics led to the decision to pursue a solar facility (also known as a solar farm) over a mixed use. Pape said there is no construction date scheduled.

The board’s vote for approval came after two hours of testimony from planning, solar energy and engineering experts regarding visual buffers, security, environmental impact and other factors.

David Sirna, vice chairman, said the new use would be less intense than the original plan for the site and he said solar energy is a superior use.

“This is an application where there are very minimal, if any, impacts,” Sirna said.

Board members John Armata and Stephen Meier agreed with Sirna’s comments regarding the application.

“(Solar energy) is the wave of the future and I think that as these (solar) panels come on board, we are going to see them all over the place,” Armata said.

“I’m a big fan of solar power to begin with,” Meier said. “I think they are doing everything they can to accommodate (the neighboring area) with the (visual) buffering. ”

Board member Thomas O’Donnell asked that signs be posted at the site to deter trespassing and hunting.

The sitewill feature a 6-foot tall chain link fence behind vegetative buffering. The fence will rise to 24 feet at the road access point on Fairfield Road.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Evelyn O’Donnell, who serves on the Howell Planning Board, raised concerns about drainage in light of recent flooding cause by Hurricane Irene.

In regard to her concerns, Jack Mallon, the board’s engineer, said the applicant “pretty much traps everything (water) on site.”

Board member Wendell Nanson cited recent media reports of economic troubles with solar energy companies and asked what would happen if solar panel manufacturers or the applicant faced financial trouble. one transformer for the conversion of solar energy to electricity. Additional site elements will include an 8-foot tall chain link fence around the solar panels/operation, electrical conduits between the panels, a landscaping berm along Ely Harmony Road and additional landscaping and buffers around the site.

Solar energy facilities are not a permitted use in Freehold Township’s Rural Environmental Zone and the applicant was required to apply to the zoning board for a D-1 use variance. The use variance and several minor variances were granted.

According to EffiSolar Energy Corporation’s website, “Solar farms (utility-scale ground-mounted photovoltaic power generating facilities) consist of large arrays of solar PV panels that capture energy from sunlight and convert it to electricity for the local power grid. A 10MW solar farm generally consists of 50 to 70 acres of land upon which PV panels are mounted on racks in flat, unobstructed locations that possess strong solar resources and good soil for foundations.

“EffiSolar’s vertical integration from designing and manufacturing of PV panels, solar inverters, solar trackers to installation and operation of solar farms, allows us to offer turnkey solar farm projects that significantly reduce greenhouse gases emissions at a low cost.”

According to Galvin, the use of a solar energy facility is seen as inherently beneficial to society. The attorney said he believes more of these facilities will be seen going forward. Galvin said the state has created legislation regarding what it says is the inherently beneficial use of solar energy.

The applicable statute says, “Inherently beneficial use means a use which is universally considered of value to the community because it fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general welfare. Such a use includes, but is not limited to a hospital, school, child care center, group home or a wind solar or photovoltaic energy facility or structure.”

India’s Lanco “Open” to Deals as Solar Industry Poised for Consolidation

Lanco Infratech Ltd. (LANCI), set to emerge as India’s biggest builder of solar power plants, said it’s willing to consider overseas acquisitions amid signs the industry is poised for consolidation.

“There’s a shake-up happening in the solar industry,” said V. Saibaba, chief executive officer of Lanco Solar Pvt., a unit of India’s largest non-state power producer. “If any interesting opportunities come our way, we are definitely open to it.”

Clean-energy companies are likely to become the most active in merger and acquisitions as conglomerates seeking to enter the sector could find cheap targets in a fragmented industry, said Morgan Stanley analyst Allen Wells in a May 16 note. Last month Total SA (FP), Europe’s third-largest oil company, made the largest purchase ever of a solar cell and module maker with a $1.38 billion deal for 60 percent of SunPower Corp. (SPWRA), said Nathaniel Bullard, solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Smaller companies may come under pressure to find buyers in Europe, where tariffs paid to renewable energy generators are falling, and China, whose equipment suppliers face declining prices, Saibaba said.

“It will be difficult for many of the small companies to go to the next level,” Saibaba said in an interview in Gurgaon, near the capital of New Delhi on May 27.