Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-17
HITCH YOUR WAGON TO THE SUN-By Frederic ]. Haskin

ferent metals, on the same principle that any
other electriS battery works. DR.. CObentZ
measured the heat of the North STAR which,
he estimated would raise the temperature of
a gram of water one degree centgrade in a
million years.
"Now this same method could be used in
converting the heat of the sun into electric
current Make THOUSAND of those little Their
NAL batteries MAKE a lens to concentrate the
sun heat upon them provide storage batteries
for storing the heat SO that a supply would be
held in reserve when the sun was not shining,
and you have the essentials of the outfit A
patent such 'thermo- electric generator
was taken out by the bureau of standards.
"The number of this patent is 1,o77,2t9, and
it is under date of October %, 1913.
"The making of this electric generator is
really simple. 1t would have an enormous num-
Der of very small parts, but that does not pre-
sent a real difficulty. A certain watch factory
uses screws of which $4,000 may be put in a
thimble, while each screw has 24O threads Yet
these screws are turned out by machinery in
enormous quantities at a low cost The tiny
metal elements and fiIamentS for this electric
generator would be made with equal ease And
once the machine was made, there would be lit
tie depreciation or up-keep charge and very
little man-pOWer necessary for this opera ION.
"The storage of the electricity at low
enough cost to be practical, presents more diff
ficultieS, but it could undoubtedly be worked
out
at seems certain that this method of pro-
ducing power would be far less wasteful than
any of our present ones. For we enor-
mOuSy waSteful of energy. Dr.. Coblentz meas
ured the heat given off by freflieS from their
tiny tail lights. He found that its amount was
amazingly small, and that it did not perceptibly
increase when the lights were flashed In
other words the insect produced a very conSid-
cradle amount of light with an amazingly small
expenditure of heat o. energy.
"The same thing is more Strikinqlv i11uS-
trated by certain deep-Sea fishes which carry
lanterns similar to those of the fireflies. Below
the depth of one mile you know, the sea is
absolutely dark, so that these creatures have to
a little power plant, converting part of its
power into light, just as our mechanical power
plants do. But a study of these fishes has
shown that they expend only one-twenty fifth
as much heat or power in producing a given
amount of light as we do in our power plants.
In other words, nature is twenty-five times as
efficient in producing light as we are. | be-
lieve man at Princeton is now deyoting his
time to study of these deep-Sea fishes, in
order to determine how they produce this light
with so little energy, and one Austrian scientist
is also working on the problem. But the Won
der is that so little attention should be given
question of such vast importance to humanity.
mo; the conversion of sun heat into cleo
trclty is not the only method of using it, 1t
may also be converted into steam. This has
already been done practically. There is, or
recently was, plant for generating power in
this way at Pasadena, Cal 1t was simple in
principle giant lens twenty or thirty feet
wide, concentrated the sun heat on water
pipe, converting the water into steam. under
stand the machine was found to be practicable
personally | believe that the best method
may be the use of the parabolic lenses to con-
eentrate the sun heat upon water pipes. Imag-
inc long trough, several feet Deep lined with
aluminium, having a cross seton shaped like a
hairpin with the ends pulled slightly apart that
IS parabola. 1t is well-knowr fact, applied
in making large telescopes that light rays fall
ing on this parabolic lens will all be reflected
back to one point within the rabola. All you
have to do then is to suspend a water pipe
at this point of your trough BY making the
pipe the right size in proportion to your lens,
you can concentrate enough heat on it to con-
vert the water into steam
"This trough would be only one unit in
series, which would make up the power plant
Mountain sides, deserts and other waste places
which receive large share of sunlight would
be sites tor such power plants
1T all sounds like dream, | know and
you'll be called dreamer if you write it. but
anything you write now will be commonplace
fact within twenty-five years."