Bahrain to utilize Israeli solar tech as result of new international partnership

Israeli climate-tech start-up BladeRanger and Alpha Solar, one of Bahrain's leading energy providers, have announced a new partnership to assist solar site owners in the Gulf region to maximize power generation by utilizing the former’s autonomous solar-panel cleaning robots.

The cooperative effort was announced this week during the Connect2Innovate conference in Bahrain, organized by Start-Up Nation Central, the Bahrain Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Bahrain Economic Development Board. It represents continued progress in strengthening business relations between Israel and its Gulf neighbors following the historic ratification of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

BladeRanger

“BladeRanger’s vision is simple: every ray matters and every kWh should be known and optimized. Alpha Solar's great positioning in the [Gulf] market can help Blade enter the region in a smooth and fast manner while providing first level support to our mutual customers,” said Oded Fruchtman, BladeRanger’s CEO.

Bahrain has shown significant interest in promoting solar energy generation, having achieved 6% energy efficiency in 2019 — six years ahead of schedule — as part of its Vision 2030 initiative.

As a result of the deal, BladeRanger’s 20 kilo solar panel cleaning robot, PLECO, will be utilized at Alpha Solar customers’ solar sites in order to optimize their energy generation capabilities and increase profitability.

BladeRanger’s proprietary DeepSolar platform will be used to generate actionable insights on solar plant activity and perform automatic advanced analysis to enhance processes and monitor solar conditions.

Alpha Solar CEO Ali Halwachi noted the value proposition presented by BladeRanger’s combination of physical and digital products.

“BladeRanger’s unique technology and observation and management platform will help boost energy production in our region, while providing cutting-edge, actionable data insights from across each solar site,” he said. “We are excited to commence this partnership, marking another step in our journey to renewable energy independence.”

BladeRanger isn’t the only Israeli start-up making international deals to keep structures clean. In January, Verobotics, which develops robots designed to clean building exteriors, signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Hong Kong-based robotics company Robocore.

The deal will enable Verobotics to deploy its technology throughout Hong Kong, which is home to over 9,000 high-rise buildings.

“With the largest concentration of high-rise buildings in the world, Verobotics solutions are especially relevant for Hong Kong,” said Roy Lim, CEO of Robocore. “We are confident that the robots will be deployed on hundreds of buildings within a couple of years.”