﻿SOLAR 
  RADIATION 
  AS 
  A 
  POWER 
  SOURCE 
  — 
  ABBOT 
  

  

  101 
  

  

  abandoned 
  during 
  and 
  since 
  the 
  World 
  War 
  of 
  1914^18. 
  In 
  these 
  ex- 
  

   periments 
  the 
  sun's 
  rays 
  were 
  roughly 
  focused 
  upon 
  boilers, 
  and 
  thus 
  

   from 
  the 
  thermodynamic 
  viewpoint 
  more 
  eligible 
  temperatures 
  were 
  

   attained 
  than 
  those 
  of 
  Willsie 
  and 
  Boyle's 
  experiments. 
  

  

  Some 
  inventors 
  have 
  attempted 
  to 
  employ 
  thermoelectricity 
  or 
  

   photoelectricity 
  as 
  means 
  of 
  escaping 
  from 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  working 
  

   through 
  gaseous 
  heat 
  cycles 
  to 
  achieve 
  mechanical 
  motion. 
  It 
  is 
  diffi- 
  

   cult 
  to 
  conceive 
  that 
  thermoelectric 
  couples 
  could 
  ever 
  be 
  a 
  valuable 
  

   expedient 
  for 
  this 
  purpose. 
  The 
  electromotive 
  forces 
  available 
  are 
  so 
  

  

  Figure 
  1. 
  — 
  Eneas's 
  solar 
  generator, 
  patented 
  March 
  26, 
  1901. 
  

  

  small 
  that 
  the 
  multiplication 
  of 
  couples 
  is 
  necessarily 
  great, 
  and 
  the 
  

   apparatus 
  required 
  would 
  contain 
  enormous 
  numbers 
  of 
  parts. 
  The 
  

   wires 
  used 
  would 
  all 
  be 
  metallic 
  conductors 
  of 
  heat, 
  so 
  that 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  

   fraction 
  of 
  the 
  solar 
  input 
  would 
  be 
  dissipated 
  in 
  useless 
  heat 
  losses. 
  

   As 
  for 
  photoelectricity, 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  limited 
  to 
  comparatively 
  narrow 
  

   regions 
  of 
  the 
  spectrum, 
  so 
  that 
  large 
  fractions 
  of 
  the 
  solar 
  rays 
  would 
  

   be 
  wholly 
  useless 
  to 
  these 
  devices. 
  Of 
  the 
  remaining 
  useful 
  rays, 
  no 
  

   inconsiderable 
  part 
  would 
  be 
  converted 
  into 
  heat, 
  and 
  would 
  also 
  be 
  

   useless. 
  I 
  cannot 
  think 
  that 
  at 
  present 
  these 
  direct 
  electrical 
  conver- 
  

   sions 
  of 
  solar 
  radiation 
  seem 
  promising 
  solutions 
  of 
  the 
  solar-power 
  

   problem. 
  

  

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