Sunday And Ormat Build Largest Solar Roof in the Middle East

Sunday Energy, a solar energy service provider in Israel, and Ormat Technologies, one of the world’s largest geothermal power solutions companies, recently announced they will build a 1MWp photovoltaic solar installation on the roof of Ormat’s factory in Yavne, Israel.

Once complete, the 16,000 square meter installation will be the largest PV roof in the Middle East and will generate over NIS 60 million from solar energy sales over the next 20 years.

The project will cost approximately NIS 20 million to construct and is expected to be completed by the first half of 2010.

The project was conceived by Dov Berger, Ormat’s Solar Energy Division Manager, and Yehuda Bronicki, Ormat’s Chairman. After conducting a thorough due diligence process, the two selected Sunday Energy due to the high quality of its work, its track record for successful project delivery and its reputation for maintaining the highest levels of customer satisfaction. 

Ormat’s on its way to becoming the Microsoft or Google of alternative energy. Last week we announced a deal Ormat has made with Indonesia worth about $800 million; it’s also got a $43 million deal in the cooker with Guatemala.

“After examining the other options currently in the market, we chose Sunday because we wanted the best partner for this important project,” said Berger.

“Sunday presented us with the most promising risk management model, the highest quality and a guarantee that the project would deliver a very fast return on investment.”

As part of the deal, Sunday and Ormat will cooperate on all phases of the project, including the planning, licensing, equipment purchasing, installation and connection to the electricity grid.

Additionally, the agreement stipulates that the companies will share responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the system for 20 years.

The project will be completed in phases, with the first 50 KWp stage already under development.

The Israeli company Ormat is one of the first companies in the world to develop solar technologies and today is one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world, with over 1,000 MW installed around the world.

“This is an extraordinary project as far as its size and engineering complexity is concerned, and we are honored that Ormat chose Sunday to implement it,” said Kobi Dinar, CEO of Sunday.

“Ormat is one of the leading renewable energy companies in the world, and we believe that this partnership highlights the great confidence that Ormat has in our ability to successfully undertake and complete this project.”

Following the successful installation of this project, Ormat and Sunday hope to collaborate on other similar large-scale solar projects across the country and around the world.  

This project follows previous tenders recently secured by Sunday, including the Tel-Aviv municipality bid to install solar energy systems on school rooftops,the Kiryat-Ono tender for installations on that municipality’s public buildings, the installation of a solar power system on the Carmei Ovdat winery in Israel’s Negev desert, and a planned installation on Israel’s Dalton Winery.

Over the next two to three years, Sunday is planning to construct solar farms across Israel worth more than NIS 800

Sunday is committed to making solar energy available and affordable to everyone. Its goal is to become a leading global “green energy” utility company owning and operating centralized utility-grade solar parks as well as distributed/decentralized grid connected networks.

Sunday provides solar energy added value solutions for distributed/decentralized on-grid networks (both for residential and commercial clients), centralized utility-grade solar parks and off-grid and rural solar energy projects. The compay has the capability for installation of solar projects on both rooftops and on the ground.

If you’re in the market for geothermal energy investments or installation, you might want to read this BNet article, mentioning Ormat among the top 5 pics.

::Sunday Solar