The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1913-06-20
sun POWER FOR
IRRIGATION PLANT
Powerful Solar Motor Butt
nolr Cairo, Egypt.
AMERICAN THE INVENTOR

Frank ehuman, Q Distinguished Ensl.
nssr. Now on the Way 10 supsrin-
tend Operation sf HE Invention.
May Prove 10 9s solution Of Grow.
ING Fuel Problem.
Frank Shuman. q distinguished en-
Eineer who Ii now on his way to Egypt,
10 making radical departure In the
generation Of natural power.
Mr.. shuman. who u widely known In
engineering circles both In this coun-
try and abroad. u going to harness the
sun to the Nile. He has already In
stalled near Cairo . 100 horsepower
sun plant for Irrigation. and bis pres
snt mission to Egypt u to complete the
installation and begin operations al
most Immediately.
Four times only In the history Of the
human race has tho generation Of pow
or been the subject Of invention. First
came the windmill, then the water
wheel. The third departure and the
greatest 80 far was the combustion Of
fuel. Now comes the use Of the solar
rays, which. II successful - and Mr..
Shuman says that success Is already as
sured--wili be the most complete revo-
Iution Of all. solving at once for the
tropics the problem Of fuel, which In
the past has been 20 great handicap
to remunerative labor and which In the
future, with the diminishing supplies
Of coal, must become . greater handi-
cap still.
In an interview which he gave out on
tho eve Of his departure for Egypt Mr..
Shuman explained the character and
purpose Of bis sun power plant He
said:
by means Of paraboilc mirrors the
heat Of the sun 10 concentrated to dve
times its natural intensity.
osntrstlWg Suns Hsst
'Thh gives 10 q temperature Of
about 600 degrees Fahrenheit, and BY
means Of this heat concentrated ON
boilers the steam u generated, which
70 used for driving low pressure con.
densing engine. This engine In turn
drives large reciprocating pump ca.
pable OF pumping 1900 gallons q min.
ute and thus Of irrigating In this par
ticuiar locality 1000 actes Of land
"You can do the same thing. of
COURSE" Mr.. shuman went on to cay.
"by means Of steam generated from
coal. But coal In the tropics costs
from $40 to $40 ton. Sunlight does
not cost anything It In true that the
cost for first construction Of a sun
power irrigation plant is double that
Of first class plant using coal. Hs-
timating the interest on the increased
investment at per cent. this places ua
on an equality with coal at $3.50 ton
delivered at the site Of the plant
"The plant. moreover, is so con.
structed that with ordinary care It will
last for many generations. It IL com.
posed entirely Of REINFORCED concrete
iron and glass; The glass and concrete
will last indefinitely. and so will the
ironwork, provided that 1t II painted
every Ave years.
"You have therefore permanent
plant. the upkeep of which costs very
little. The labor that Ia required ia
run q sun power plant Ia indeed Z
great deal less than that which Ii nee
} essary for coal plant. No stokerl
! are needed. and there IL no coal to be
, shoveled and no ashes to be removed
81 Fuel Cost Former Handicap.
Il "Hitherto the great handicap to cul
, uvation Of the soil In the tropics hal
been the high cost Of fuel. making
the irrigation Of all great areas Of land
prohIbifve. The sun power plant BY
working Without fue! sweeps away
the handicap completely, and as sooi
/. a. its use becomes general. as It 4
: certainly bound to do. 1t will MAKE
! wide areas Of deserts productive ant
will enable the tropics to support ,
vastly greater population than they an
: able to do ut present.
"In this country In the summer ant
+ fall OF 1911 a thirty-three horsepowe
:, sun plant was thoroughly tested witt
r perfect success. In Cairo we hope b
have the plant working by the arst o
/, next month.
"lf its success there II establishe,
!, Its use In tropical countries must bs
: come general, because no one nee'
have to face any longer the difiicul
4 problem OF fuel. In addition to tn
!. tropics, the sun power plant could ais
n he used with immense advantage Il
. the south OF France. Spain and Ital
!. and, In fact, In all countries wher
they have on an average rs per cen
ot sunshine every day Of the year."
:. Mr. Shunian added that It will ais
y he possible ny means Of electric stoI
Z nge batteries to store the power tina
y IL derived from the sun just AZ on
/. can store any other power.
- Saa