BEIT SHEMESH, Israel, July 12 (UPI) -- Solel Solar Systems will hire 200 new employees, bringing their employee total from 90 in early 2006 to 360 by year's end, the company said Wednesday.
The company is looking to employ people in the fields of mechanical engineering, management, equipment and supervision, according to a Solel company statement.
Currently employing 160, Solel said the expansion comes as a result of several contracts it has won in recent months to supply solar thermal systems to plants in the United States and Spain.
Solar thermal energy uses the sun to heat a liquid, usually into oil that in turn heats water to produce steam. This steam then powers turbines to create electricity.
Photovoltaic technology, on the other hand, involves the familiar black panels seen on rooftops. These panels convert sunlight directly into electricity through a chemical reaction in the panel's silicon coating. In general, solar thermal is a much cheaper form of energy than photovoltaic.
Despite Solel's success abroad, the Beit Shemesh, Israel-based company is still waiting for a government OK at home to build Israel's first solar thermal power plant. The plant, planned to sit near the southern city of Dimona, will have a production capacity of 150 megawatts, or enough to power 300,000 homes.
Israel's Minister of National Infrastructures Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told United Press International that alternative energy in general is one of his priorities, and he is in favor of building the Solel plant.
