{{Short description|Israel's first commercial solar field}} thumb|300px|Israel's first commercial solar field, Ketura Sun.
'''Ketura Sun''' is Israel’s first commercial solar field. Built in early 2011 by Arava Power Company on Kibbutz Ketura, it covers 20 acres (8.09 hectares) and is expected to produce to 4.95 megawatts. It has the first automatic solar panel cleaning system in the world.
==Characteristics== The field consists of 18,500 photovoltaic panels{{update inline|date=April 2014|reason=According to source GB, there are 28,200 panels as of April 2014, but it's unclear how to solve this contradiction}} made by Suntech, which will produce about nine million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://aravapower.com/Technical%20Figures |title= Ketura Sun Technical Figures |access-date= 26 June 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131227131312/http://www.aravapower.com/Technical%20Figures |archive-date= 27 December 2013 |url-status= dead |df= dmy-all }}</ref> In the next twenty years, the field will spare the production of some 125,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.aravapower.com/Environmental%20Figures|title= Ketura Sun Environmental Figures|access-date= 26 June 2011|archive-date= 22 July 2012|archive-url= https://archive.today/20120722132945/http://www.aravapower.com/Environmental%20Figures|url-status= dead}}</ref> The field is connected to Israel’s national power grid and sends electricity to the 33,000 volt line to kibbutzim in the area.
Ketura Sun features the world's first fully automated solar panel cleaning system.<ref name=GB>{{cite news|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-6-new-solar-fields-launched-in-israel-1000930329|title=6 new solar fields launched in Israel|author=Barkat, Amiram|work=Globes|date=April 7, 2014|access-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref>
==See also== {{stack|{{Portal|Israel|Renewable energy}}}} * Energy in Israel
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.aravapower.com/?langid=2 Arava Power]
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Category:Solar power stations in Israel Category:Ketura, Israel