Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-12


DR.. Bruno LANCE of the Kaiser Wilhelm
Berlin, inUentor OF the sel"-
hide plate that dyatUs porer from the
sun.
Dr. LANCE himself sums up this interesting
possibility as follows:
1.-THE application of these cells to the produc-
] ton of energy seems to be possible, Dut,
of course this is task that can be accom-
plished only step by step.
Aggregates of a large number OF cells OF
this kind connected with each other seem 10
be the direction of the next development. There
are still many difficulties of manufacture anu
crcuting to be overcome. Even IL these
problems are successfully solved, the direct pro-
duction of sun-generateG power will be able to
90 into competition with The methods OF fuel
burning or water power only in troplc@ ana
subtropical climates, where steady, strong
radiation exists.
Some s25 900 per kilowatt is DR.. Lange's esti-
mate of the cost of installing the copper sand
wich on a large scale. A water-power plant
can be profitably operated if the cost OF in
stallation is $125 per kilowatt, while IL is
economic to put up coal-steam generating
plant at a capital cost of SIS to 800 per kilo-
watt.
This does not look very hopeful for sun
mower one must admit In addition you have
to remember that the cost of producing the
power is only fraction of the total cost OF the
power as delivered to the consumer. Stepping
up the voltage so that the current can be
economically transmitted, the erection and up
keep of transmission lines. stepping down trans
former stations and distribution networks to
the ultimate consumer have all to be added To
the cost Of generation itself.
In addition the relation of the peaks in the
supply and demand curves has to be consld-
Da1Ir of hn Pnf
Niagara and Eastern Power Corporation has
recently estimated that the overall cost Of CAPT
tai construction to the distribution substations
for the industrial consumer is SIT per kilowatt
For the domestic consumer it IS $256. Forty
two dollars and SOL per customer has TO be
added to these figures before the current IS
ready for use.
IN the other hand silver selenide IS der
~ clared to be about a hundred times more
efficient than the cuprous oxide device. True,
silver is more expensive than copper, but
recent industrial history shows that when there
is a sure field for material Of definite proper
ties he would be rash man who would predict
that cheap enough substance would not be
discovered or devised.
Konel the metal newly invented at the west
inghouse laboratories for making the flamentS
of radio tubes is at least a hundred times
cheaper than the platinum which it has re-
placed throughout the entire radio industry.
Platinum was considered irreplaceable before
this invention
Despite these reservations, generator costs
are of extreme Importance in the economics OF
the power industry, which is at the heart OF
modern civilization. The largest power COM
pany in America generates 1000 600 kilo-
watt hours per year, so that saving OF only
tenth of cent per kilowatt hour would result
in a saving Of $1,000, 900 to the company.
Serious problems will be raised by the fact
that the supply of sunpower will be intermit-
tent throughout the day. Water power is open
to a similar objection, though in this case the
f1uctuation is seasonal. No satisfactory means
of storing power on a large scale has yet been
devised, except perhaps by using dam and
the water level behind it, or a novel method
Just perfected in connection with the use OF
tidal power.
If the storage problem is not solved In a
satisfactory way the present method of linking
up power supplies into large chains will nave
to be still further extended.
The demand for power is at its greatest dur
ing a great deal Of the time when the sun is
above the horizon However, from to 8 In
the evening the amount of power being used il
still near its maximum, and the sunlight would
of course be greatly reduced at this time, par
ticularly in the Winter months.
The sun is par excellence the power house Of
the world and of the solar system. The sun
light falling on the earth and at present largely
wasted, so far as human purposes are conc1I "a
provides some hundred thousand times grs-SA
energy in a year than all the coal that u
burned in. the same tinse-sdlne 1,50Oa nIaAton