The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1913-06-19
sun POWER FOR
IRRIGATION PLANT
Powerful Solar Motor Built
Near Cairo, Egypt.
AMERICAN THE INVENTOR.

Frank Shuman, Distinguished Enai-
neer, Now on the Way to Superin-
tend Operation Of His Invention.
May Prove to Be Solution Of Grow
ing Fuel Problem.
Frank Shuman, a distinguished en-
gineer who is now on his way to Egypt,
is making a radical departure in the
generation Of natural power.
Mr.. Shuman, who is widely known in
engineering circles both in this coun-
try and abroad, is going to harness the
sun to the Nile. he has already in
stalled near Cairo a 100 horsepower
sun plant for irrigation, and his pres
ent mission to Egypt is to complete the
installation and begin operations al
most Immediately.
Four times only in the history of the
human race has the generation of pow
| er been the subject of invention. First
came the windmill, then the water
| Wheel The third departure and the
! greatest so far was the combustion of
fuel. Now comes the use of the solar
rays, which, if successful - and Mr..
! Shuman says that success Is already as
sured-will be the most complete revo-
luton of all, solving at once for the
tropics the problem Of fuel, which in
the past has been so great handicap
| lob md xryhi i,,f h0
future, with the diminishing supplies
of coal, must become a greater handi-
cap still.
In an interview which he gave out on
| the eve of his departure for Egypt Mr..
| Shuman explained the character and
| purpose of his sun power plant. He
| said:
"By means Of paraboilc mirrors the
heat of the sun is concentrated to five
times it's natural intensity.
Concentrating Suns Heat.
"This gives us temperature of
about 600 degrees Fahrenheit, and by
means of this heat concentrated on
boilers the steam is generated, which
is used for driving low pressure con-
densing engine. This engine in turn
drives a large reciprocating pump ca
pable Of pumping 1900 gallons min
ute and thus Of irrigating in this par
ticular locality 1000 acres Of land.
"You can do the same thing, of
course" Mr.. Shuman went on to say,
'by means Of steam generated from
coal. But coal in the tropics costs
from $40 to $40 ton. Sunlight does
not cost anything It is true that the
cost for first construction of sun
power irrigation plant is double that
Of a first class plant using coal. Es-
tlmating the interest on the increased
investment at per cent, this places us
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. 1t is CON-
posed entirely Of REINFORCED concrete,
iron and glass. The glass and concrete
will last indefinitely, and so will the
ironwork, provided that it is painted
every five years.
"You have therefore permanent
plant, the upkeep of which costs very
little The labor that is required to
run a sun power plant is indeed a
great deal less than that which is nee
essary for a coal plant. No stokers
are needed, and there is no coal to be
shoveled and no ashes to be removed.
Fuel Cost Former Handicap.
"Hitherto the great handicap to cul-
tivation Of the soil in the tropics has
been the high cost Of fuel, making
the irrigation Of all great areas Of land
prohibitive. The sun power plant by
working without fuel sweeps away
the handicap completely, and as soon
as it's use becomes general, as it is
certainly bound to do, it will make
wide areas of deserts productive and
will enable the tropics to support q
vastly greater population than they are
able to do at present.
"In this country in the summer an6
fall of 1911 a thirty-three horsepower
sun plant was thoroughly tested witt
perfect success. In Cairo we hope tt
have the plant working by the first Of
next month.
IF it's success there is established
IT'S use in tropical countries must be
come general, because no one neei
have to face any longer the difficult
problem Of fuel In addition to thu
> tropics, the sun power plant could alst
be used with immense advantage il
the south of France. Spain and Italy
and, in fact, in all countries where
| they have on an average Is per cen
Of sunshine every day Of the year,
} Mr.. Shuman added that it will alst
be possible by means Of electric stor
, age batteries to store the power tina
is derived from the sun just as on.
!. can store any other power
"laziest Man, IL Found.