Assessment of the potential for distributed photovoltaic electricity production in Israel

A significant portion of Israel’s electricity can be produced either by large utility-scale solar power stations or with small, distributed solar power systems. Producing energy in large solar power stations requires vast tracts of land and may necessitate an extensive upgrade of the power grid. Distributed production using photovoltaic panels on rooftops, on the other hand, does not have these drawbacks and takes advantage of the omnipresence of insolation. However, it is not clear if sufficient rooftop area is available. Assessment of available rooftop area in Israel, using a complete set of GIS data covering the country, shows that a yearly electricity production, equivalent to 32% of the national consumption, can be achieved in the long run. Furthermore, a more economic and feasible scenario for the near future is derived, assuming PV installations only on large (>800 m2) rooftops and with lower panel efficiencies (10%). It is found that even in this case, a substantial 7% of today’s national electricity production can be met.