HYSTORICAL ANALYSIS

The use of solar energy is not a new concept. It roots date back to the 7th century BC and is
still developing today. Solar technology has come a long way from the concentration of heat
from the sun with glasses and mirrors to generate heat, until now, because this type of energy
is used for cooking, heating and cooling systems, drying materials and food, and electricity
production.
In 1767 Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, a French–Swiss
scientist, tried to ascertain the usefulness of sunlight and the
heat generated by it by inventing the world’s first solar collector
used to cooking food. He tried to capture the heat by making a
wood box covered with three glass layers. Two smaller boxes
were placed inside with black inner coating. When the sun’s
rays infiltrated the glass cover, the blackened insides absorbed
them thereby converting them into heat. The temperature
Figure 1: The hot box of Horace de
Saussure. [2] generated inside the box were 100 ° C. [1]
In 1816 Robert Stirling, an Scottish inventor, applied for a patent for his Economizer at the
Chancery in Edinburgh, Scotland. He built heat engines that use the heated fluid to move
pistons and create mechanical power. This engines was later used in a Dish/Stirling System,
a solar thermal electric technology that concentrates the sun’s thermal energy in order to
produce power. The solar concentrator gathers the solar energy coming directly from the sun
into thermal receiver that collects the solar heat. The solar heat from the thermal receiver is
used to produce thermal to electric energy conversion with a Stirling engine. The mechanical
work, in the form of the rotation of the engine's crankshaft, drives a generator and produces
electrical power.[7]
In 1860 Augustin Mouchot, a French mathematician,
concerned about the possibility of fossil fuels were running
out, developed a system of steam generation by solar energy
to drive industrial machinery. The French mathematician
considered it possible that the sun's heat could replace coal
burning to run European industries. Drawing on the work of
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and the experiments involved a
water-filled cauldron enclosed in glass, which would be
exposed to the heat of the sun until the water boiled; the
steam thus produced would provide motive power for a small
steam engine. By August 1866, Mouchot had developed the
first conical solar collector to generate steam in a stationary Figure 2: Mouchot's Solar Power Collector
boiler by solar energy. [3] at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1878.
[3]
In 1883 John Ericcson, a Swedish-American inventor, introduced the parabolic trough
concept which concentrates solar radiation on a line passing through the parabola’s focal
point. The construction of this solar concentrator needed only to track the sun in an east to
west direction, if lying horizontally, in a north to south direction. In addition, he uses this
parabolic collector to operate a steam engine for pumping water [2]
In 1878 William Grylls Adams, professor of King’s College London, observed that the
Mouchot’s invention was impractical because was impossible to construct a conic collector
with much greater dimensions. Another observation was that the conic collector would be too
costly to build and too unwieldy to efficiently track the sun. He suggested that a reflector of flat
silvered mirrors arrange in a semicircle because was cheaper to construct and easier to
maintain. He planned to build a large rack of multiple small mirrors that each one was
adjustable to reflect solar radiation in a specific direction. As a tracking mechanism of the sun,
the entire rack could be rolled around a semicircular track, reflection the solar radiation onto a
stationary boiler. He arranged the collectors around a boiler, retaining Augustin Mouchot's
enclosed cauldron configuration and connected it to a 2,5 HP steam engine that operated
during daylight hours. [9]
In 1891 Clarence Kemp, An American Inventor, patented
the first commercially marketed solar collector to heat
water called “Climax”. His invention consisted in two metal
tanks painted of black exposed to the sun under a glass
cover in a wooden box insulted with felt. This system
achieved a notable expansion in the regions floored the
United States of America. With this invention not only heat
was trapped, this also was preserved for a long time. [4] Figure 3: A Maryland gentleman of the 1890’s
takin a hot bath with his Climax Heater .[2]

In 1901 Aubrey Eneas, An English Inventor, demonstrated at

Edwin Cawston's ostrich farm in Pasadena, California the first
succesfull motor powered by solar energy. Enea's conical
reflector consisting of more than 1700 mirrors focusing
sunlight onto a long cylindrical boiler at its center. The
mirrored cone had more than 700 feet of surface and
measured 35 feet across at its wide end, easily doubling the
reflecting capacity of Mouchot’s largest machine. The
apparatus was hitched to a track running the length of a
vertical, lightweight steel tower that allowed a clock
mechanism to keep the mirror angled toward the sun
throughout the day. The mirrors funneled the sun's rays onto
Figure 4: Aubrey Eneas’s Solar Motor. a boiler containing 1,000 gallons of water. The resulting
[11]
steam drove a turbine of a 10 HP power, which operated
through a pulley and belt a pump that was used to power an engine that pumped between
1,400 and 1,500 gallons of water a minute from a deep well on the farm.[2]

In 1909, William J. Bailey further modernized the Climax with his copper collector. He divided
the solar water heater into two parts, a heating component made up of pipes connected to a
metal sheet painted black and put in a covered glass box exposed to the sun and a copper
insulated storage piece that was placed in the houses so families had access to heated water
both day and night and as well as early next morning. Since the water that required heating
now passed through narrow pipes instead of being stored in a large tank, the quantity of water
exposed to the sun at a single time was decreased, thus allowing the water to heat up
quicker. Bailey named his device as Day and Night.[10]
 In 1913 Frank Shuman, an American Engineer, built in
Meadi , 25 km from Cairo , the first largest parabolic
trough solar plant in the history, He installed 5 parabolic
mirrors arranged in semicircular structures to track the
sun. Structures measured about 62 meters spaced 4
meter wide. With this sunlight reached at the focal line,
the water increased its temperature to near the boiling
point.The steam produced, served to drive steam
engines producing low pressure equivalent to 55 HP. In
turn these machines pumped water from the Nile to the
Figure 5: Shuman’s Parabolic Trough Plant In fields of farming, about 27,000 liters per minute. By
Meadi. [2] 1914, Shuman hoped to build 20,000 reflectors in the
Sahara Desert and generate energy equal to all the coal mined in one year, but the outbreak
of World War I ended his dreams of large-scale solar developments.[12]

In the mid-1950s Frank Bridgers, an American Architect, designed the world’s first
commercial office building using solar water heating and passive design. The building's active
solar heating system employed a 74 square meter collector array on the wall of the building,
which was angled at 30 degrees to the vertical to catch the maximum amount of winter
sunlight. Hot water from the collectors fed a 6,000-gallon insulated tank, which provided a
reserve for nights and cloudy periods [13]
In 1973, The University of Delaware started to build
"Solar One", the first big solar plant of solar thermal
energy concentration based in the Mojave Desert, USA.
The method of collecting energy was based on
concentrating the sun's energy onto a common focal
point to produce heat to run a steam turbine generator.
It had hundreds of large mirror assemblies, or heliostats
that track the sun, reflecting the solar energy onto a
tower where a black receiver absorbed the heat. High-
temperature heat transfer fluid was used to carry the
Figure 6: Solar One Plant In the Mojave Desert, USA. energy to a boiler on the ground where the steam was
[1] used to spin a series of turbines, much like a traditional
power plant. In 1982, the project begins to operate producing 10 MW of electricity using 1,818
mirrors, each 40 m² with a total area of 72,650 m². [1]
In 1994, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, built
the first solar dish generator to use a free-piston Stirling
engine in order to produce electricity. The system consists
of a large dish that reflects the rays into the focus point,
which is located at the center of the dish. Solar energy is
collected in the form of heat to fuel a Stirling cycle
engine. It’s the first solar dish generator that exceed 30%
conversion efficiency. Dish/Stirling systems have a range Figure 7: Solar Dish/Stirling Engine .[14]
of electricity production, typically about 5 to 25 kWh [14]
 EXAMPLES OF USE OF THIS ENERGY WORLDWIDE
The most common application of this energy is for the electricity generation. Solar thermal
power plants use the sun's rays to heat a fluid, for the production of high pressure, high
temperature steam. The steam, in turn, is converted into mechanical energy in a turbine and
into electricity from a conventional generator coupled to the turbine. Solar thermal
technologies for electricity generation use concentrator systems due to the high temperatures
needed. Currently there are three types of solar-thermal power systems in use or under
development: Solar power tower and parabolic trough.
The worldwide solar thermal power plants most important are the following:
In United States Of America:
 Ivanpah Solar Power Plant: The installation of
3500 hectares located in the California’s Mojave
Desert is the largest solar thermal power plant in
the world. Ivanpah consists of 300000 heliostats
surrounding three towers of 459 meters. Sunlight
concentrated from these mirrors and heats the
water in the towers to create superheated steam
which then drives turbines at the site to produce
energy. The plant generates 370 MW of power,
enough to serve 140000 homes. The $2.2 billion Figure 8: Ivanpah Solar Power Plant. [16]
plant reduces carbon emissions by 400,000 tons
per year. [15]
 Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS): It is
the largest parabolic trough solar plant system in
the world located at the California’s Mojave
Desert. It consists of nine solar power plants
SGES I-IX with 936,384 mirrors and covers more
than 1,600 hectares. The SEGS plant use
parabolic trough solar heat collectors. The
collectors are sun-tracking reflector panels, or
mirrors. The sunlight is reflected by the panels
was concentrated on tubes carrying heat transfer
fluid. The fluid is heated and pumped through a
series of heat exchangers to produce
superheated steam. The steam spun a turbine in
a generator to produce electricity. This Plant have Figure 9: SEGS Parabolic Mirrors. [16]
a total capacity of 354 MW [15]

In Spain:
 Solnova Solar Power Station: It is a solar thermal plant located in Sanlucar de Mayor,
Seville, Spain, and it is based on parabolic trough technology. This plant use synthetic oil
to generate high temperature steam and run a conventional steam cycle. It consists in
three power plants, each one with 300000 m² of area and 50 MW of power. Each plant
annually produce energy equivalent to 25,700 households and prevents the emission into
the atmosphere of approximately 31,400 tons of CO2 per year.[17] [18]
 Plataforma Solúcar: It is an operational solar thermal plant located in Sanlucar de Mayor,
Sevilla, Spain and is based on the solar tower technology. It consist in two plants:
o PS10: It consists of a solar plant of 60 hectares and 624 heliostats of 120 m² each.
The heliostats concentrate solar radiation received on the receptor located on the
top of a tower 115 meters high. This plant has a capacity of 11 MW of power and it
has a production equivalent to the consumption of approximately 5,500 households
and avoids the emission of 6,000 tons of CO2 annually. [18]
o PS20: It consists of a solar plant 85 hectares and 1,255 heliostats. It incorporates
major technological advances over its predecessor; a receiver with more efficiency,
various improvements in the control and operation systems and thermal storage
system. It has 20 MW of power, annually produces energy equivalent to 10,000
households, and prevents the emission into the atmosphere of approximately
12,000 tons of CO2 per year. [18]

Figure 10: Solnova 1 and 3. [18] Figure 11: Planta Solúcar. [18]

In United Arab Emirates:

 Shams Solar Power Station: It is a solar thermal
plant located in Madinat Zayed, United Arab
Emirates, and it is based on parabolic trough
technology. It is a system of mirrors that collects solar
radiation and generates steam, which is used to drive
a turbine in a generator to produce electricity. This
solar plant has the capacity of 100 MW of power that
is enough to power 20,000 homes. [19]
Figure 12: Shams Solar Power Station [20]
In South Africa:
 Khi Solar One: It is the first solar tower in South
Africa. It is based on the solar tower technology. The
central tower has 205 metres tall and the plant covers
a 600-hectare site in the Northern Cape Province,
near Upington. The station has the capacity of 50MW
of power and saves 183,000 tons of carbon a year,
and 498,000 tons of per year. [21]

Figure 13: Khi Solar One [22]

One of the other common application of this energy is the use of solar heating water for
domestic or institutional hot water supplies. This solar application uses collectors with tubes
specially designed and coated with materials that absorb sunlight (Flat-plate collectors or
Evacuate Tube Collectors). By absorbing sunlight, the water is heated, and this system also
has a special tank that allows heat to be stored and much of the heat that was absorbed with
the sun during the day is preserved.
Exist two methods of transferring heat from the collector to the tank of water:
 Natura Circulation System Method: The tank is
located above the collector, and water circulates
by natural convection whenever solar energy in
the collector adds energy to the water in the
collector leg and so establishes a density
difference. Sometimes the collector is coupled
with a horizontal cylindrical storage tank. [23]
 Forced Circulation System Method: A pump Figure 14: Natural circulation system to heat water. [23]

is required; it is usually controlled by a

differential thermostat turning on the pump when
the temperature at the top header is higher than
the temperature of the water in the bottom of the
tank. A check valve is needed to prevent
reverse circulation and resultant nighttime Figure 15: Forcer circulation system to heat water. [23]

thermal losses from the collector. [23]

Figure 16: Domestic Solar Heater Water System With Figure 17 Domestic Solar Heater Water System With a
coupled tank and a Evatuate Tube Collector. [24] Flat-Plate Collector [25].
REFERENCES
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[11] H. Gernsback and H.W Secor eds., “The Utilization of the Sun’s Energy,” The Electrical
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[14] W.B Stine and R.P. Diver. (1994). A Compendium of Solar Dish/Stirling Technology,
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[15} Fanchi, J. R. (2013). Energy in the 21st century (3). Singapore, SG: WSPC. Retrieved
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[16] Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, http://www.jebiga.com/ivanpah-solar-power-plant/

[17 ]Poullikkas, A. (2009). Introduction to Power Generation Technologies. New York, US:
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http://www.abengoasolar.com/web

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[20] Shams Power Company, http://shamspower.ae/en/

[21] Woods L. (2013) First solar tower in South Africa completed by Abengoa, PV Tech,
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[22] Khi Solar One, South Africa. (2016). Planet. https://www.planet.com/gallery/khi-solar-one/

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[24] Solar Energy For Home, http://www.solar-energy-for-home.com/solar-collectors.html

[25} Solar Quotes, https://www.solarquotes.com.au/hot-water/type/flat-plate/