Solar Energy, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 311-314.
1994
Pergamon
0038-092X(94 )00065-4
FARRINGTON DANIELS AWARD
SOLAR ENERGY: A VIABLE P A T H W A Y T O W A R D S
ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE D E V E L O P M E N T
W. W. S. CHARTERS
University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
PREFACE
It is now almost three decades since my interest in
solar energy was first kindled and became the beginning
of a lifelong career in solar research and development.
At that time, working at the University of the West
Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, all of my effort was
going into teaching a range of courses in mechanical
engineering within a newly formed Faculty of Engi-
neering. The luxury of solar research lay far in the
future. In moments of leisure, however, on the beach
at Maracas on the north shore of the island it was im-
possible to ignore the penetrating radiation of the
noonday tropical sun, the wave power implicit in the
pounding of the surf on the beach, and the wind power
in the tropical winds varying from gentle breezes to
cyclonic force gales capable of widespread devastation
to crops and dwellings.
Earlier this year, upon learning of this award, my
thoughts immediately returned to 1970 and the first
ISES Congress held in Melbourne, Australia. There, I
had the pleasure of meeting for the first time Farrington
and Olive Daniels. Before that time Farrington Daniels
to me had been only a name associated with his famous
book, Direct Use of the Sun's Energy, which still pro-
vides an excellent introduction to the subject matter
of our discipline (although now supplemented with
many other excellent undergraduate and postgraduate
texts for teaching and research purposes).
On a postconference tour to the central desert or
"red heart" of Australia I saw first hand the determi-
nation of Farrington Danieis. At the age of 8 l, he com-
pleted the ascent of Ayers R o c k - - n o mean feat at any
age as the initial slope is very steep and deters many
lesser mortals.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
AS an underlying theme I have chosen the topic of
solar energy for economically sustainable development.
Professor W. W. S. Charters was the 1993 recipient of the
Farrington Daniels Award, the major individual honour be-
stowed by the International Solar Energy Society. One of the
conditions of the Award is that the recipient must present a
lecture at an ISES Word Congress. We reprint in the following
pages, the written form of Professor Charter's lecture, which
was presented at the ISES World Congress in Budapest on
August 27, 1993.
311
Copyright © 1994 ElsevierScience Ltd
Printed in the USA.All rights reserved
0038-092X/94 $6.00 + .00
Implicit in this is the inarguable fact that perpetual
economic growth is not sustainable. Thus, we should
all be looking toward more extensive use of recycled
materials and a major shift to greater reliance on re-
newable energy resources, even if these appear to be
uneconomic using current cost conventions. The in-
troduction of true least cost planning methods and in-
stitution of proper consideration for externalities are
gradually changing perspectives regarding the genuine
economic value of environmentally benign, renewable
energy resources. Such an approach is vital if we truly
intend to move the world from its present overde-
pendence on fossil fuels. These traditional sources cur-
rently supply over 85% of all globally traded primary
energy. It is only with such a shift in attitude that we
can safeguard the future of the planet for generations
yet unborn.
In any development scenario for the world as a
whole, we must consider the enormous variation in
level of development across different countries. The
problems of the developed world pale into insignific-
ance when compared with those of the developing na-
tions. Providing an adequate energy supply to major
new populations will become a critical problem. Recent
forecasts indicate that 90% of the population growth
is likely to occur in developing nations. It is therefore
reasonable to expect, based on current, extensive in-
ternational studies, that the energy growth rate in the
developing nations is likely to run at 5% to 6% whilst
in the world as a whole it would be stabilizing at 1.5%
to 2.5%. Excessive dependence on imported oil in the
developing nations can also pose a crippling debt bur-
den and adversely dominate the balance of trade ratios
for these countries.
The International Solar Energy Society, especially
the Federation of National Solar Societies and National
Sections, has a major and increasing role to play in
information dissemination, technology transfer, and
personnel training around the world. Global organi-
zations such as the World Bank and the various United
Nations Agencies working within the new energy de-
velopment field are also crucial agents in these pro-
cesses. It is time to reconsider whether we should in-
stitute a Decade of Renewable Energy Development
on a global scale to consolidate the new solar technol-
ogies and to bring on line large scale solar power plant
in suitable locations around the world.
312 W . W . S . CHARTERS
RENEWABLE ENERGY WAVES
Solar energy research, development, and commer-
cialization in this century have been driven by a variety
of different forces. First we had the vision and enthu-
siasm of solar pioneers like Abbot, Robinson, Daniels,
and Yellott, to name only a few, who saw in this un-
limited natural resource a secure clean energy resource
for the post fossil fuel era. Some of these eminent
scholars, and others like them, helped to bring together
the international solar scientists and engineers in 1955
at Phoenix, Arizona. The gathering led to the formation
of the Solar Energy Society--now the International
Solar Energy Society.
The second wave of interest broke in the mid-sev-
enties with the advent of the middle east oil cartel
known as OPEC and the overnight quadrupling of the
price of crude oil in 1973 and 1979. Prices rose to
nearly US$40 per barrel from a base price of US$13
per barrel. Although the international economy
adapted rapidly to these price increases, the seeds of
doubt had been sown. The possibilities of price insta-
bility and supply uncertainty led several nations to im-
plement major renewable energy programs, focused
on energy supply security and national independence.
The third and possibly the final wave of this century
is the growing emphasis now being placed on mini-
mizing environmental degradation in all its diverse
forms; protecting the vital land, water, and air resources
whilst sustaining economic productivity and attempt-
ing to provide useful employment for the workforce.
Access to uncontaminated land, to clean water, and
to fresh air used to be considered a natural right of
citizens in many nations of the world. Now, how many
people living in major metropolitan areas actually re-
ceive these natural endowments? Instead, urban air
pollution through excessive use of transport fossil fuels
and fossil fueled power stations has become an accepted
norm for urban living. The lack of quality of drinking
water in many countries has led to a major growth
industry in the supply of bottled waters. Land contam-
inated by industrial waste products has been used for
housing developments, with the associated health risks
not identified until many years later. These are pow-
erful and emotional issues which can and should be
drawn on when promoting the overall benefits of solar
energy as an environmentally friendly energy resource.
In 1992 some of these elements were addressed in
the drafting of the Framework Convention on Climate
Change which should have a global impact on energy
use and abuse. Since the composition of this frame-
work, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
has indicated that a reduction in excess of 60% in terms
of carbon dioxide production is necessary to achieve
a stable concentration of this greenhouse gas in the
earth's atmosphere. It will be impossible to achieve
such a dramatic reduction in carbon dioxide produc-
tion without a major change in the way in which we
produce and use power in the global economy. Re-
newable energy resource utilization has a vital role to
play in alleviating some of the worst ecological disasters
caused by excessive and concentrated fossil fuel or nu-
clear use.
As governments and industries have responded to
the new challenges posed in each of these cycles, a
distinct pattern emerges detailing the ebb and flow of
the fortunes of the solar energy community. In the
past decade there has been an unfortunate, substantial
reduction in funding allocated to renewable energy re-
source development. Government expenditure on solar
energy has fallen to less than one third of the level
considered reasonable at the start of the 10-year period.
Even so, the intensive development and commercial-
ization of solar power in this same period has seen a
continuing reduction in solar power installed costs,
levelized power costs, and a dramatic improvement in
plant reliability, stand alone capability, and availability.
This is particularly impressive when compared with
other more conventional power plants where cost es-
calation rather than cost reduction has taken place
during this time.
In the future, however, it will become increasingly
important that we give adequate and proper recognition
to the real environmental benefits of renewable energy
systems when allocating values to economic external-
ities in any appraisal of competing power technologies.
The absence of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and
oxides of nitrogen from solar power plants should be
fully recognized. We should realize a substantial and
direct cost credit to the solar system in terms of the
"revealed preference" approach adopted recently as
an interim standard in California and several other
U.S. states.
FRAMEWORK FOR SOLAR DEVELOPMENT
Since 1955 at Phoenix and 1961 at the Rome meet-
ing on "New Energy Sources" it is interesting to note
the gradual but accelerating move from academic re-
search publications on solar topics to increasing em-
phasis on solar applications, development of solar
equipment, and more recently topics dealing directly
with commercialization of solar technology. In this
process we can chart the progress of the still embryonic
solar industry and learn the preferred sequence of
events which is likely to lead to a successful outcome
for new solar products and technologies.
The first essential element is that there must be a
"political will" to initiate reforms in existing energy
systems to allow for penetration of solar resources at
a reasonable rate. This means putting in place appro-
priate policy formulation and energy planning at the
global, regional, national, and local levels. With this
framework in place it is then possible to start to design,
build and test new solar equipment and to ensure,
through demonstration, the technological feasibility
and product availability and reliability. The next (es-
sentially commercial) step involves market identifi-
cation and product refinement to allow for commercial
viability of the new technology.
As with many new technologies it may be necessary,
 Farrington Daniels Award
initially, to create a market based on government and
utility buying power and to subsidize major demon-
strations of the new plant to boost consumer confidence
and to increase system reliability. One classic example
of this step can be seen in the U.S. photovoltaic pro-
gram where the government acknowledged, early on,
the vital role of solar photovoltaics in the space pro-
gram. The ultimate success of many of the space ven-
tures can be traced back to the performance and high
reliability of the solar sources used to power the space
craft. Another example is that of the development of
the Australian solar water heating industry where the
initial market for the new product was guaranteed by
the fitting of domestic solar hot water units to a large
number of government-owned properties in central and
northern Australia. Without this form of initial support
it is extremely doubtful if either of these solar industries
would exist today.
Many of these policy and planning issues have been
highlighted in the excellent series of articles featured
in "Energy Policy" during 1991 and 1992 where the
focus has been on all aspects of renewable energy re-
source utilization. It is critical that we identify non-
technical institutional barriers and constraints to solar
energy implementation and force a restructuring of
energy policy to fully encourage the incorporation of
solar technologies into the overall energy economy.
FUTURE ROLES FOR SOLAR ENERGY
So much for retrospective thoughts about solar en-
ergy developments since the middle of this century.
For the young and for the young at heart, it is always
more interesting, exciting, challenging, and stimulating
to seek a vision for the future rather than to dwell on
the achievements of the past. We can learn from our
past successes and also from our failures as we plan
ahead for our future.
These applications of solar energy harnessed on a
major scale can contribute substantially to man's well-
being:
• Small-, medium-, and large-scale decentralized
power generation systems based on solar thermal and
photovoltaic supply. This step alone could lead to
energy and power being supplied to billions of people
living currently at or below subsistence level in many
countries of the world.
• A range o f industrial process heat applications in
particular in the food processing industries. These
could lead to a very substantial reduction in the con-
sumption of conventional fuels.
• Vital food preservation through drying and refriger-
ation to minimize postharvest and postprocessing
losses. In developing nations, 50% to 70% of the food
produced is lost due to inadequate drying and storage
handling. What use is a Green Revolution if the food
produced never reaches the marketplace?
• Improved public health services through water pu-
rification and supply, water pumping for drinking,
irrigation, and the provision o f a vaccine cold chain.
The immediate and dramatic effects on improved
313
health of the community have been demonstrated
in many countries where action along these lines has
been initiated with small-scale pilot projects.
• Accelerated production o f solar fuels and chemical
storage materials such as ethanol, methanol, meth-
ane, and ultimately hydrogen. This is an essential
element of any long-term solution to transport energy
problems and could assist in reducing urban air pol-
lution and conserving our vital petrochemical re-
sources for other useful industrial purposes.
The improved solar plant used for each of these ap-
plications will, of necessity, incorporate advanced state-
of-the-art electronic and computer circuitry and will
benefit from recent and continuing advances in ma-
terials technology such as the production of cermets
and other advanced composite materials. Many of the
materials used in advanced electronics will become
available to solar workers in different forms of spe-
cialized coatings and substrates. We have already seen
the introduction in recent years of transparent insu-
lation materials specifically tailored for solar applica-
tions in buildings and in thermal collectors. This trend
will continue and accelerate as solar energy impacts
on and becomes a part of everyday life.
In addition, there will be a spreading realization
that the Ultimate success of solar energy implemen-
tation on a large-scale requires a lot more than technical
input. Political, legal and economic, and environmental
issues will all need considerable attention. This means
that the solar research worker of the 21 st century will
have the pleasure and stimulation of working with in-
terdisciplinary teams of experts who may have back-
grounds as diverse as materials specialists, systems en-
gineers, economists, scientific environmentalists, and
social scientists.
PERSONAL SOLAR ACTIVITIES
In my own experience in solar energy research, de-
velopment, and commercialization I have had the
pleasure of working with over 50 postgraduate students,
many university academic staff members, and a range
of personnel from government ministries and agencies
to industrial organizations. All of these people have
made substantial contributions, in one way or another,
to the work carried out by our solar research group at
the University of Melbourne over the last 30 years. It
would be impossible to quantify the impact of working
continually with fresh young minds in an open and
unconstrained university research environment. There
is no doubt at all that the investment of funds in post-
graduate scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships
provides an ultimate intellectual and financial return
to the community unequaled by any other investments
of government or industry funds.
Our work at the University of Melbourne has con-
centrated primarily on solar thermal technologies, on
component and system design, and on performance
testing of a wide range of flat-plate and concentrating
collector types. We have also given consideration to
the vital aspect of integrating solar and energy efficiency
314 W . W . S . CHARTERS
concepts. This latter work has been focused on energy
efficient building design, solar ponds, and solar-assisted
and solar-boosted heat pump systems of various types
and configurations.
In all of this research and development work there
has been a heavy involvement of industry from the
early concept stage in an attempt to ensure ultimate
commercialization wherever possible.
Currently we are working on solar drying and on
ground and air source heat pump technology involving
modeling, simulation, and optimization studies. In
addition, we are exploring the potential of energy stor-
age and heat pumps based on metal hydride storage
systems. This latter work continues on with the un-
derlying theme that solar concepts have to be integrated
with energy conservation and efficient use of energy
to provide the maximum return for the research and
development investment.
A major program in development technologies
structured for the Southeast Asian region that has now
run over 20 years has helped us to maintain a focus
on problems of development in developing countries.
This has led to a series of projects specifically tailored
to the needs of individual countries within the region.
Projects concern solar vaccine storage and solar drying
of grains and specialized cash crops. This year we have
12 of our final-year engineering students working for
a month in Thailand as part of their fourth-year course,
undertaking a range of infrastructure projects at the
village level under the King's Project.
Over the past 4 years, as Chief Technical Advisor
to UNDP (New York), I have been heavily involved
with Indian scientists and engineers in setting up a
solar test center near New Delhi. This joint Indian
government and UN project has resulted in the for-
mation of a solar thermal and photovoltaic test facility
with internationally trained personnel at Gwalpahari,
Haryana Province, which will assist in improving the
quality of the solar equipment built in India and in
the immediate Asian region as well as expediting close
collaboration between the government, industry, and
academic centers involved in solar energy research and
development. This involvement has allowed me the
opportunity to study at first hand some of the problems
involved in a developing economy with major popu-
lation growth pressure.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In conclusion, my personal thanks must go to all
of my solar colleagues worldwide who have encouraged
me in my research efforts. I can only hope that I have
repaid this debt in some small measure by training and
educating the next generation of solar workers. My
thanks go also to the University of Melbourne for al-
lowing me the freedom to choose my field of research
endeavor and providing the facilities to make this pos-
sible. Finally, my thanks go of course to the anonymous
members of the Awards Selection Committee of the
International Solar Energy Society who saw fit to honor
our work with this prestigious award.
For me the solar work has never been a chore but
a source of continuing pleasure and excitement, sand-
wiched in between the administrative and management
tasks of a university professor, chairman of department
and dean of an engineering faculty at a major univer-
sity. It would be no exaggeration to state that solar
energy has illuminated my academic life for over 30
years, has provided me with many firm friends all over
the globe, and has brought me many rewards, all of
which I treasure as I will this Farrington Daniels Award
of the International Solar Energy Society.