Hybrid Solar + Storage: How AI and Smart Modeling Tools Are Helping Solar Installers Scale
- Posted on December 23, 2025
Batteries only sell well when their value is clearly explained. This is where solar design software, energy-yield calculators, and proposal platforms become essential tools for installers. AI is leading the way.
The post Hybrid Solar + Storage: How AI and Smart Modeling Tools Are Helping Solar Installers Scale appeared first on Green Prophet.
A set of luxury towers planned for the Holy City of Jerusalem
In November 2025, entrepreneur Nahum Rosenberger announced plans to develop Israel’s most expensive urban renewal project at the Hasbon (Hesbon) complex in central Jerusalem. The project, with an estimated investment of NIS 3.6 billion (about $1 billion USD), will span about 7 acres and include three high-rise towers of 41, 43, and 45 floors, comprising approximately 950 residential apartments.
Beyond housing, the development will feature extensive mixed-use components, including 8,600 square meters of retail space, 8,300 square meters of office and employment space, around 6,100 square meters of hotel use, and underground parking. Large areas will be dedicated to public use, reflecting the city’s priorities.
A conceptual architectural rendering of a major urban renewal project in a dense city center. Three slender high-rise towers of varying heights rise above a mixed-use podium, surrounded by pedestrian-friendly public spaces.
The urban renewal is being managed by Eden, Jerusalem Municipality’s economic development arm. Public-benefit allocations will include a 4,300-square-meter library, auditorium, and laboratories, four kindergarten classrooms, three daycare classrooms, a 600-square-meter synagogue, an 1,800-square-meter sports hall, and a 10-dunam public park. Some of the photos released by the developer are shown here.
The project is designed by the internationally renowned Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, in collaboration with Danish architect Jan Gehl, known for people-centered urban design. The local architectural firm is MAARCS, with landscape architecture by Urbanof (Orbanof), led by Lior Levinger.
The lower levels feature retail fronts, cultural buildings, and community facilities that open onto wide plazas and landscaped walkways. Green roofs, trees, and shaded seating areas soften the urban scale, while a large public park extends alongside the complex. The overall scene blends modern glass-and-concrete towers with human-scale streets, emphasizing walkability, community life, and a vibrant mix of housing, work, culture, and leisure.
Once a historic cigarette factory, the Hasbon complex is being transformed into a new, vibrant community and cultural hub in the heart of Jerusalem, aiming to create an innovative urban space that connects community life, culture, and the city center, according to the city, but Israeli-Greek architect Elias Mesinas sees things differently. He writes:
Elias Messinas
Jerusalem is a city whose urban identity was shaped over centuries through a balance between sacred sites, preserved skylines, and community-driven discussion. Today, that balance is being tested. At Hasbon compound, a proposal for a 50-storey three tower luxury development has triggered more than 200 objections from the local community concerned about the project’s scale, shadows, and long-term impact on public space. The issue is not whether Jerusalem should build or densify, but how it should do so, and for whom.
The city inherited from the British Mandate era three “red lines” in planning: protection of the skyline, building in stone, and preserving the valleys. As the city expanded westward with distinctive garden-city neighborhoods, and to the east with massive, dense but low-rise residential complexes, these principles ensured visual harmony with the Old City and the historic neighborhoods and landscapes and a sense of place for the local community. Recent urban-renewal policies — driven by seismic-risk mitigation (Tama 38), demographic projections for population growth, and mass-transit expansion — have challenged these constraints. The result has been a gradual acceptance of planning and zoning schemes previously considered unthinkable for the city, leading to a wave of approvals for high-density high-rise redevelopment for luxury living rather than affordable units, threatening to push long-time residents out of historic neighborhoods through ‘gentrification.’
Orange trees help passively heat and cool in this Foster + Partners sustainable building in Jerusalem.
Over the past three decades, Jerusalem’s Community Councils have played a critical role in engaging residents in planning processes and ensuring that the voice of the community is heard in planning committees. As someone who has served as an urban planner for one of these Councils, I have seen how local knowledge and civic involvement has improved plans, has protected open spaces and old trees, has increased public amenities, and has ensured that neighborhood character is considered.
Further, in 2023, community action even succeeded in rerouting the light rail planned blue line, to ensure that it does not harm the neighborhood but rather serves it. In the past, community advocacy has even succeeded in rejecting international ‘trophy projects,’ from Frank Gehry’s Tolerance Museum to Moshe Safdie’s residential plan in the Judean Hills, and in 2023, MVRDV’s proposal for the President’s Hotel site in historic Talbieh neighborhood: although significantly reduced in height after strong neighborhood objections — a case in which I personally delivered the community’s position to planners and the design team, ultimately, it was canceled and the property sold to another developer.
Foster + Partners Safra brain center Hebrew university.
This context is essential for understanding the current Hasbon Square controversy. The site’s planning history began with approval for a single 30-storey tower on the old Pazgaz building in 2021. Over the years, through amendments and increasing developer ambitions, the proposal expanded into a three-tower scheme that now aims to also occupy land of Meir Sherman park – part of Independence park – a public park since 1921. Despite the impressive portfolio of the international teams involved — including architects MVRDV and urban planner Jan Gehl — the plan raises substantive planning concerns, and community objections, primarily about quality public space.
Integrated food gardens outside the city of Jerusalem
The community objects to the loss of meaningful public space. A significant portion of existing green area – Meir Sherman park – is proposed for development. The remaining open space would spend much of the year in shade due to the towers’ half-kilometer-long shadow — one projected to reach in the afternoon near the Old City walls less than 800 meters away. A public space without sunlight risks becoming symbolic rather than usable, inviting and pleasant.
The community objects to private sky courts labelled as public but inaccessible. Private elevated courtyards dramatically increase the project’s volume and height. Although described in the project documents as ‘public amenities’, these spaces are in fact private, for use by the development tenants only, leaving the local community with only a minimal share of accessible public use — around three percent, and a significantly bigger project.
The community raises objections about a compromised public square, the proposed plaza that sits behind tall structures that block sunlight and intensify winds, raising doubts about whether it will function as a comfortable civic space in Jerusalem’s microclimate, as intended.
Run around the City of David, Jerusalem
The community also objects to surpassing the already dominated skyline of the historic city with high rise development planned or under construction. Breaking the existing policy with a 50-storey development, threatens to further compromise both the city skyline – visible from the public and open spaces in the city.
A gazelle in the Gazelle Valley with Jerusalem in the background
The development raises concerns about a high-end real-estate venture that maximizes returns while offering thin layers of “green” or “public” features. The Hasbon project proposed greenery on terraces 50 floors up does not inherently make the project “green,” nor does it justify expanding building rights or increasing the built volume. Similarly, branding shaded plazas as “vibrant” public spaces does not guarantee they will serve their intended users, given the environmental and micro-climatic conditions of public spaces dominated by high-risers. The project, as currently presented, does not adequately reconcile developer objectives with Jerusalem’s civic, environmental, and cultural needs.
This no doubt is a moment of decision. As the objection period comes to a close, the community’s message is consistent and measured: the question is not whether to build, but how to build responsibly and in a way that serves the city and the community. Jerusalem needs seismic reinforcement, affordable housing, and quality public space. But it also needs to preserve the values that make it one of the world’s most cherished cities. Good urban development can achieve both — respecting community, climate, heritage, and daily life.
Jerusalem has repeatedly shown that planning is strongest when residents, professionals, and decision-makers work collaboratively and all voices are heard. The Hasbon development offers an opportunity to reaffirm this approach. A project of this scale should enhance its surroundings, not overwhelm them; it should give more to the city than it takes. The city of Jerusalem and the local community deserve nothing less.
The post Luxury tower in Jerusalem ruins its sacred heritage and eco-architects are worried appeared first on Green Prophet.
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Came here from another site and ended up exploring much further than I planned, and a look at thisdomainisdishk only encouraged more exploration, the kind of place where one click leads to another not through manipulative design but through genuinely interesting content is rare and worth highlighting when found like this somewhere on the open internet.
Skipped breakfast still reading this and finished hungry but satisfied, and a stop at slacktally kept me past breakfast time, content that displaces basic biological needs is content with serious attentional pull and the writers here are clearly capable of producing that level of engagement which is genuinely impressive these days.
Bookmark earned and the bookmark feels like a permanent addition rather than a maybe, and a look at herbharp confirmed that permanent status, the difference between durable bookmarks and ephemeral ones is something I have learned to feel quickly and this site triggered the durable feeling almost immediately during my first read here.
Came across this through a roundabout path and now it is on my regular rotation, and a stop at velourturban sealed that decision, the open web still produces serendipitous discoveries when you let the citations and references guide you rather than relying purely on algorithmic feeds for new content recommendations always.
Bookmark added with a small note about why, and a look at sampleshadow prompted another bookmark with another note, the bookmarks I annotate are the ones I expect to return to deliberately rather than stumble into and this site is generating annotated bookmarks at a higher rate than my usual content sources by some margin.
Decided this was the best thing I had read all morning, and a stop at solacesteam kept that ranking intact, ranking my reading is something I do mentally throughout the day and the top rank is competitive and not easily won but this site won it without needing to overstate its claims for that.
Speaking from the perspective of a fairly demanding reader the writing here clears the bar consistently, and a look at velourturban continued clearing that bar, the calibration of demanding reader is something I apply to all sources and this site has been one of the few that handles the demanding reading well across pieces sampled.
Reading this triggered a small reorganisation of my own thinking on the topic, and a stop at herbharp furthered that reorganisation, content that affects the shape of my mental model rather than just decorating it with new facts is content with structural rather than informational impact and this site provides that.
Halfway through I knew I would finish the post, and a stop at siennathrift also held me through to the end, content that signals its quality early and then sustains it is content with real internal consistency and this site has clearly figured out how to maintain quality from opening sentence through to closing thought.
Genuine reaction is that this site clicked with how I like to read, and a look at sampleshadow kept that comfortable fit going, sometimes you find a place online whose editorial decisions just align with your preferences and when that happens it is worth recognising and supporting through repeat engagement consistently going forward.
Reading this gave me a small framework I expect to use going forward, and a stop at tangovillage extended that framework, content that produces transferable mental models rather than just specific facts is content with multiplicative value and this site is providing those models at a rate that justifies extra attention from me regularly.
Pass this along to colleagues if the topic comes up, the framing here is sensible, and a stop at tractshade adds more useful angles to share, the kind of content that improves conversations rather than just feeding them is what makes a resource genuinely valuable in professional contexts going forward over time and across project boundaries too.
Thanks for the simple approach, too many sites bury the actual point under layers of unnecessary words, but here every line earns its place, and a look at creekharbormerchantgallery showed the same care for the reader which is something I will remember the next time I need answers on a topic.
Decided this was the kind of site I would defend in a discussion about good blog content, and a stop at solotopaz reinforced that, very few sites earn active defence rather than passive consumption and this one has clearly crossed that threshold for me without needing any explicit pitch from the writers themselves either.
Now recognising that the post handled the topic with appropriate technical precision without becoming dry, and a stop at halbrook continued that balance, technical precision and readability are often in tension and this site has clearly figured out how to maintain both at once which is one of the harder editorial achievements in the form.
Reading this with a fresh mind in the morning brought out details I might have missed in the afternoon, and a stop at siennathrift earned the same fresh attention, content that rewards being read at full attention rather than at energy lows is content with real density and this site has that density consistently.
Now appreciating that the post did not try to imitate any other style I might recognise, and a stop at heronfoil continued that distinct voice, content with its own register rather than borrowed from elsewhere is content with real authorial presence and this site has clearly developed that presence through what feels like patient editorial work.
Recommend this to anyone who values clear thinking over flashy presentation, and a stop at syruptarot continued in the same understated way, this site has its priorities in the right place which makes it worth supporting through repeat visits and recommendations rather than just one passing read today before moving on quickly elsewhere.
Without comparing too aggressively to other sources this one stands out for the right reasons, and a look at subletviper continued that distinctive quality, content that distinguishes itself through substance rather than style tricks is content with lasting differentiation and this site has clearly chosen substance based differentiation as its core editorial strategy.
Took a chance on the headline and was rewarded, and a stop at tigerteacup kept the rewards coming as I clicked through, the kind of place where every link leads somewhere worth the click is a small luxury on the modern web where so many sites are mostly empty calories disguised as content.
Thanks for treating the topic with the seriousness it deserves without becoming pompous about it, and a stop at crowncovemerchantgallery continued that balanced treatment, the gap between earnest and self serious is huge and writers who can stay on the right side of it earn my respect when I find them online today.
Picked something concrete from the post that I will use immediately, and a look at siriussuperb added another concrete piece, content that produces immediately useful output rather than just abstract appreciation is content that earns its place in my regular rotation without needing any further evaluation from me at this point honestly.
A thoughtful read in a week that has been mostly noisy, and a look at snippetvamp carried that thoughtful quality across more pages, finding pockets of considered writing in a week of distractions is one of the small wins of careful curation and this site is providing those pockets at a sustainable rate.
Found something quietly useful here that I expect to return to, and a stop at herongait added more of the same, content with quiet utility ages well in a way that flashy hot takes do not and I have learned to weight quiet utility much higher when deciding what to bookmark for later use.
I really like how the writer keeps the tone friendly without sounding fake or overly polished, and after a stop at hanrim the same calm pace was there, no rushing to make a point and no padding either, just clean honest writing that I can respect and come back to later again.
Liked that the post landed without needing to manufacture controversy or take a contrarian stance for attention, and a stop at senatetrench continued that grounded approach, content that earns attention through quality rather than provocation is the kind that builds long term trust rather than burning it on quick wins.
Came away with a small but real shift in perspective on the topic, and a stop at stereotarot pushed that shift a bit further, the kind of subtle reframing that good writing does to a reader without making a big deal of it is something I always appreciate when it happens which is sadly not that often.
Closed the laptop after this and let the ideas settle for a few hours, and a stop at crystalcovemerchantgallery similarly rewarded reflective time, content that benefits from sitting with rather than racing past is the kind I want more of and the kind that this site appears to consistently produce week after week here.
Reading this on a phone at a coffee shop and finding it perfectly suited to that context, and a stop at stencilslick continued the comfortable mobile experience, content that works across reading conditions without compromising on substance is increasingly important and this site has clearly thought about the whole reader experience here.
Now organising my browser bookmarks to give this site easier access, and a look at tealsilver earned the same organisational priority, the small acts of digital housekeeping I do for sites I expect to use often are themselves a measure of trust and this site has triggered the trust based housekeeping behaviour from me clearly.
Probably the best thing I have read on this topic in the past month, and a stop at uptonshade extended that ranking, the casual ranking of recent reading is informal but real and this site has been winning those rankings for me on this topic specifically over the last several weeks of regular reading sessions.
Skipped breakfast still reading this and finished hungry but satisfied, and a stop at herongrip kept me past breakfast time, content that displaces basic biological needs is content with serious attentional pull and the writers here are clearly capable of producing that level of engagement which is genuinely impressive these days.
Came in tired from a long day and the writing held my attention anyway, and a stop at hazmug kept that going, content that can engage a fatigued reader is doing something right because most online reading happens in suboptimal conditions like that one and quality content adapts to it without complaint.
Reading the writers other posts after this one suggests the quality is consistent rather than peak, and a stop at turbansample confirmed the consistent quality reading, sites that hold the same level across many pieces rather than peaking on a few are sites with sustainable editorial discipline and this one has clearly developed that.
However many similar pages I have read this one taught me something new, and a stop at driftorchardmerchantgallery added more new material, content that contributes genuinely fresh information rather than recycling what is already widely available is content with real informational value and this site is providing that informational freshness at a notable rate.
Now feeling confident that this site will continue producing work I will want to read, and a look at syruptunic extended that confidence into the future, projecting forward from current quality to expected future quality is something I do for sites I genuinely follow and this one has earned that forward looking trust clearly today.
Closed and reopened the tab three times before finally finishing, and a stop at seriftackle held my attention straight through, sometimes content fights for time against my own distraction and the times it wins say something positive about its quality and this post clearly won that fight today afternoon for me.
Bookmark earned, calendar reminder set, share queued, all from one good post, and a look at sectorsatin did the same, when a single reading session triggers multiple downstream actions you know the content has actually moved me beyond the page and this site is moving me at that higher level reliably.
Closed several other tabs to focus on this one as I read, and a stop at vincasinger held my undivided attention the same way, content that earns full focus in an attention environment full of competing pulls is content doing something genuinely well and the team behind it deserves recognition for that achievement consistently.
Really appreciate the lack of pop ups, modals, cookie banners stacking on top of each other, and a quick visit to heronhilt confirmed the same clean approach across the rest of the site, technical decisions about user experience are part of what makes content actually pleasant to engage with for sure.
Going to come back when I have more time to read carefully, the post deserves more than a quick scan, and a stop at tarmacstork reinforced that, this is the kind of site that rewards a slower read which is hard to find in this fast paced corner of the internet but really worthwhile.
Reading this prompted me to subscribe to my first newsletter in months, and a stop at dunemeadowcommercegallery confirmed the subscribe was the right call, content that earns a newsletter signup is content that has cleared a higher trust bar than a casual visit and this site has clearly earned that level of commitment from me.
Now adding a small note in my reading log that this site is one to watch, and a look at slacktally reinforced the watch status, the few sites I track deliberately rather than encounter accidentally are sites I expect ongoing returns from and this one has cleared the bar for that elevated tracking based on what I read.
Started reading skeptically because the headline seemed overconfident, and the post earned the headline by the end, and a look at junipercovemerchantgallery continued that pattern of earning its claims, sites that can back up their headlines without overpromising are rare and this one has clearly developed editorial calibration on that front consistently.
Pass this along to anyone you know dealing with similar questions, the answers here are clear, and a stop at hekarc adds even more useful material, this is the kind of resource that deserves to circulate widely rather than getting lost in the constant churn of new content online that buries good work daily.
Considered alongside other sources I have been reading this one consistently rises to the top, and a stop at shoreviper maintained that top ranking, the informal ongoing comparison between sources is something I do whenever reading on a topic and this site keeps coming out near the top of those comparisons over many sessions.
Now setting this aside as a model of how to write thoughtfully on the topic, and a stop at smeltstraw extended that model status, content that becomes a reference for how a kind of writing should be done is content with influence beyond its own readership and this site is reaching that level for me clearly today.
Now feeling the rare pleasure of trusting a source completely on first encounter, and a look at surgetarmac extended that initial trust into something more durable, the calibration of trust to evidence is something I do informally and this site has earned high trust through the cumulative weight of multiple consistently good posts already.
Approaching this with the usual skepticism I bring to new sites and being slowly persuaded, and a stop at echoharborcommercegallery continued that gradual persuasion, the careful path from skeptical reader to genuine fan is the only one I trust and this site has walked me along that path through patient consistent quality across pieces.
Quiet confidence runs through the whole post, no need to shout to make the points stick, and a stop at slippersixth carried that same restrained voice forward, content that respects the reader by trusting its own substance rather than dressing it up in theatrical language is what I look for online and rarely actually find these days.
Excellent post, balanced and well organised without showing off, and a stop at heronjoust continued in that same vein, this site has clearly figured out the formula for content that works for readers rather than for search engine ranking signals which is harder than it sounds today and worth real recognition from anyone.
Honestly this kind of writing is why I still bother to read independent sites, and a look at tinklesaddle extended that broader reflection, the few sites that justify continued attention to non algorithmic content are sites like this one and finding them periodically is enough to keep my reading habits oriented toward independent rather than aggregated content.
Closed three other tabs to focus on this one and never opened them again, and a stop at taigascenic similarly held attention exclusively, content that crowds out other reading from working memory is content with real density and this site has demonstrated that density across multiple pages I have visited so far this morning.
Appreciated how the writer anticipated the questions a reader might have along the way, and a stop at lavenderharborcommercegallery continued that thoughtful approach, you can tell when content has been edited with the reader in mind versus just published as a first draft and this is clearly the former approach across what I read.
Now recognising that the post handled the topic with appropriate technical precision without becoming dry, and a stop at heyaro continued that balance, technical precision and readability are often in tension and this site has clearly figured out how to maintain both at once which is one of the harder editorial achievements in the form.
The structure of the post made it easy to follow without losing track of where I was, and a look at tundraturtle kept the same logical flow going, this site clearly understands that organisation is half the battle in keeping readers engaged from the first line to the last across any kind of post.
Beyond the topic at hand this site reads as a small ongoing project of taking writing seriously, and a look at shorevolume reinforced that project quality, sites that treat publishing as an ongoing serious practice rather than as content production for traffic are sites worth supporting and this one has clearly chosen the serious approach.
Speaking as someone who reads a lot on this topic this site has earned a high position in my source rankings, and a stop at turtleudon reinforced that ranking, the informal ranking of sources for a topic is something I maintain mentally and this site has moved into the upper portion of those rankings clearly.
Worth marking this site as one to come back to deliberately rather than by accident, and a stop at waveharbormerchantgallery reinforced that intention, the difference between sites I find again by chance and sites I return to on purpose is meaningful and this one has clearly moved into the deliberate return category for me.