Solar Energy:
The Chicago Connection
Utilization of solar energy was significantly
advanced with the invention of nonimaging solar concentrators. This has enabled
practical uses of solar energy for such purposes as heating and cooling of
buildings and power generation without the requirement for complicated
tracking. What began as a method for efficiently collecting cerenkov light in
high energy physics has become the means for producing from solar energy, high
temperature for many societal applications as well as ultra-high temperature
for research. This talk will describe the optical principles underlying the
technology and illustrate with projects and laboratories from around the world.
Examples will be drawn from a number of areas: cooling a commercial building in
Sacramento, California, advanced collector development in China, NASA's plans
for space propulsion by heating hydrogen, and from our own City of Chicago, a
commitment to be a global leader in renewable energy production and
manufacturing including solar power.