Bnei Brak Gets Solar Energy

A Haredi yeshiva in Bnei Brak has become the city's first Torah institution to install a solar electricity system.

According to the Behadrei Haredim website, the solar energy panels were installed on the Ahavat Chesed beit mid rash, an off shoot of the city’s Ponevitch Yeshiva.

In the past, the website said that haredi rabbis had prohibited the use of solar power because they feared the electricity would be used on Shabbat. They changed their minds when the Israel Electric Company announced it would pay a lower tariff for energy produced on Shabbat, so those who do not use electricity on Shabbat would not lose out.

The 30 kilowatt system is expected to save the bet midrash about NIS 35,000 a year for the 25-year warranty of the panels.