The research project in question will test innovative ways to produce electricity in greenhouses used to grow vegetables without harming the agricultural crop. The Triangle Regional R&D Center (TRDC) is a regional research center supported by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. It has been operating for 21 years in Kfar Qara in the Triangle area.
The renewable energy team of the Triangle R&D center will lead a consortium that includes 12 research institutions and commercial companies from 4 different countries in the research project, which will test innovative ways to produce electricity in greenhouses used to grow vegetables without harming the agricultural harvest.
This is a research project initiated and submitted by the Triangle R&D, as the head of a consortium that includes 11 other partners in Germany, Austria, Greece and Italy. The approved research project is in the scope of approximately 5.5 million euros, of which the Triangle R&D will be budgeted for approximately 1.2 million euros per 3 years. In the association, among others, Humboldt University, Berlin; University of Baku, Vienna; Vergata University, Rome; University of Thessaly, Greece; and Tel Aviv University, which provides the academic sponsor for the R&D. Also, the association includes four commercial companies, including Trisolar, the start-up company that was established with the aim of commercializing the knowledge and spreading the technology developed as part of the project in the world.
The research project in question will test innovative ways to produce electricity in greenhouses used to grow vegetables without harming the agricultural crop. The research was conducted using agro-voltaic technology based on the use of agricultural land for solar energy production and agriculture at the same time. The dual use will make it possible to generate electricity and ensure food security, will lead to a reduction of the carbon footprint, and to the diversification of the energy production market. The project can be implemented in more than 5 million dunam farms in the world.
“The association’s winning of the leadership of the TRDC is exciting news since it brings to light the knowledge and expertise accumulated in Israel in the field of solar electricity and agriculture,” said the Director General of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Hila Hadad: “The issue of food security has changed in the years the latest to one of the most important issues at the global level and Israeli-European cooperation on the issue could contribute a lot to the issue. The fact that a project with such a high public profile grew out of Kfar Kara can be an example of the potential inherent in Arab-Jewish scientific and technological cooperation.”
“This is the eighth win of the R&D center in the last five years and it expresses the expertise we have acquired regarding the dual use of land and infrastructure to generate electricity without harming agricultural crops and the landscape. We have developed deep knowledge in various solar technologies. The main goal is to protect the environment and another important goal is to generate an additional source of income for farmers in Israel and around the world,” said Dr. Abraham Yahya, the scientific director of the Triangle R&D. “Our activity will contribute to stabilizing the prices of agricultural products and ensuring food security.”
“We are very proud of the win, but the success has many partners. We operate in a rural reality in the Triangle and receive exceptional encouragement and support from the local council and the residents of the area. The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology supported both, and the bureau that fosters research relations with Europe, ISERD, was an important help in the process of submitting the research proposal. The technology thanks to which we received the research grant was developed, among other things, with the help of a research grant in an applied research track at the Academy of the Innovation Authority” added Dr. Yahia.
