A kibbutz in the Arava has become home to Israel's first commercial solar energy power plant.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-unveils-first-commercial-sol...
Ketura was set up in the 70s by immigrants from America, most of them from the Young Judea movement (aligned in Israel with the Scouts). Many of its members are Conservative or Reform Jews.
This is why Israel must develop the Negev rather than waste resources on nationalist pipedreams. That is its future and if it plays its cards right, this kind of technology will help us in breaking our addiction to fossil fuels and carbon-based energy (he says gettig ready to cycle off through the traffic).