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Solar Photothermal Power Generation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Aden Baker Meinel and
Marjorie Pettit Meinel
Aden Baker Meinel
Affiliation:
Professor of Astronomy and Optical Sciences, formerly Chairman, Department of Astronomy, and Director, Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, U.S.A.
Marjorie Pettit Meinel
Affiliation:
Research Associate, Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, U.S.A.
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Extract

Solar energy could be a major resource for the semiarid regions of the United States and the world. This source of energy is a popular topic in the media at this time, but is it really the option which many would like to see or is it more likely to remain the illusion it has been up to now? Many ways of using solar energy have been proposed, and each appears to have a good technological basis. The additional factors that will see many solar schemes fall by the wayside are the hard facts of economics and the realities of social assimilation of technological advances.

The major options of house-heating and cooling and electrical power production need to be examined. Home uses depend upon the degree to which people are willing to put up with the inconveniences associated with bulky roof-top units. It is more likely that solar energy will subsequently find wider acceptance when it can be converted into power and transportable fuels at remote solar power-farms located in the arid regions of the United States and other lands that are fortunate enough to have these sunny regions. The savings to the environment could be very considerable.

Information

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Spring 1976, pp. 15 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1976

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