The Nevada Company Ormat Technologies announced that Ormat Subsidiaries Ltd., its Israeli subsidiary, entered into a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with Sunday Energy Ltd. Sunday is a private Israeli energy company and the agreement will be to construct and operate solar-photovoltaic energy systems with a total capacity of 36 MW throughout Israel.

According to the JVA, Ormat will now own 70% of each special purpose entity (SPE) with Sunday contributing the rights to all of its property and roofs required to develop solar energy systems above 1 MW to SPE’s.

The agreement between Ormat and Sunday will have major effects throughout the industry. Sunday is a leading developer in the Israeli PV market while Ormat has over four decades of experience in the development, construction, financing and operation of hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy projects worldwide.

The estimated capital expenditure for 36 MW of solar power systems is

Alternative-energy investments are hot. But is the reward worth the risk? If a report released earlier this week is anywhere close to accurate, the answer is a solid no. It could be a decade until we see any solid growth.

Alternative energy is hot stuff. Sure energy demand is waning during the economic downturn and crude prices have dropped to a third of their all-time highs, but we all know the bears will eventually fill their stomachs and move on.

At least that is what the folks investing in solar, wind, biofuels and geothermal technology are betting on.

There is a report out this week stirring their ambition. According to research released yesterday by Clean Edge, worldwide alternative energy revenues soared by 53% in 2008 to $116 billion. Not bad, but it pales in comparison to the $477 billion in revenues Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) recorded during the same period.

Fortunately,