An area considered the edge of the desert, where the agricultural center and north begins to turn into the Negev. The land may be green, but it is less arable.

The drive from Tel Aviv to the Negev Desert is one that shows the accomplishments of the Israelis in building a thriving, “developed” (by western standards) country out of nothing.  Tel Aviv itself, the diverse economic and cultural hub that vibrates with sexuality and modernity, was built where nothing had existed before it.  But it’s the drive to the Negev that shows the strides.  The changing landscape evidences how Israelis have greened land that was previously covered with arid sand.  Urban to suburban to agriculture to desert.  Even in the desert, however, there are signs of life on every horizon.

“Every tree you see here,” said my guide Andy motioning out the window, “was planted.  None of them have grown naturally.”  What’s the point? I asked.  Hundreds and hundreds of trees dot even the most remote stretches of landscape as Highway 6 blends into Highway 40, which cuts down to Sde Boker through the desert.  Are they being planted for future towns?  To fight desertification?

“No, it’s just aesthetic.  Jews like trees,” replied Andy.  “It’s one of the ways you can tell the difference between Jewish towns and Arab towns in Israel.  Arab cities don’t want to plant trees.”

A common site along the stretches of highway through the Negev. Man-made dunes such as the one above help create oases to keep in the rainwater.

It is not just the landscape in the Negev that shows the transformation of Israel in its sixty years, but also who calls the desert home: the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, where some of the world’s leading solar energy and water research is conducted.  Located at the Institute is the largest solar dish in the world for use by the Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center, and one of solar’s top researchers, David Faiman, its director.

Upon meeting Faiman, I explain to him that I wrote a small Wikipedia biography about him and the Israeli solar energy industry.  I tell him what a great honor it was for me to shake his hand, and how the work he is doing may change humanity.  He is embarrassed by my accolades.   He is a soft-spoken but passionate man with a cold.  He drinks his tea and poses politely for my photography.

Faiman and his team at the National Solar Energy Center had recently discovered a way to make solar energy cost effective.  They have designed a reflector made of mirrors that collects and intensifies the light a thousand times over that is so strong, it will burn human flesh almost instantly.  When I ask if I can climb a ladder to take pictures of the interior of the large solar dish on his grounds, Faiman quietly explains that legalities aside, they have no idea which way the light is reflecting off the dish and that I might not “last long” if I went up to my desired vantage point.

David Faiman, the sweatered solar sage of the Negev, in front of the largest solar dish in the world.

As with all breakthroughs, there are still some minor issues to resolve with the cost of the materials; issues that could be resolved with more funding.  Regardless, Faiman’s solar work is no small feat.  If a system using his research was built on roughly 4.5 square miles it could produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity, which is approximately 10 percent of Israel’s general electricity needs, according to Faiman.  A home system based upon his team’s technology is currently under development with Zenith Solar.  Faiman is adamant he will not profit off this collaboration with Zenith; it all goes back into his research. Research that is aimed at trying to make the world a better place because after all, the sun is more dependable than the Saudis.

And it’s happening there in the desert.  In Israel.

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