Another field in which Israel has been an early adopter, with a historically high percentage, nowadays 90 percent, of homes taking hot water from solar panels. One solar power pioneering company, BrightSource Israel, formerly LuzII, is building the world’s tallest solar tower in the Negev desert. More recent start-ups like SolarPaint have developed waver-thin coating that can turn any surface into a solar panel. In yet another an example of cross-fertilization with the defense industry sector, mPrest, which developed the software driving Israel’s anti-missile system IronDome, raised $20 million last year from among others GE Ventures, to adapt its product to manage smart grids. Battery technology is another field in which advances are being made, particularly by start-up StoreDot, specializing in rapid-charging batteries.

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