First Controlled Nuclear Fission Reaction (1942) &
Discovery of Compound Parabolic Concentrator for Solar Energy (1966-?);
major discoveries of the University of Chicago, and U.S. National Laboratories.
(20 August 2010) Radioactive boar on the rise in Germany due to Chernobyl accident.
(15 February '08) "Russian Roulette" Looser: The Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The Chernobyl accident occurred during a strange and risky test; very similar to Russian Roulette. This is the effect of just one nuclear accident. I don't think we can afford the inevitability of major nuclear accidents if we plan on human life continuing to exist on this planet indefinitely. If we continue with nuclear energy, it is inevitable that Chernobyl like disasters are likely to occur again, unless you think that infallibility has suddenly become manifest in the human race.
Have humans suddenly become infallible in 2008?
Note: it is easy to loose at Russian Roulette. Even the infallible loose at Russian Roulette as loosing is part of the game, a good part of the time.
ONE SOLUTION TO WORLD'S ENERGY PROBLEMS
IS A SECRET CONTAINED IN THE HORSESHOE CRAB.Solar energy is intelligent and economical nuclear energy.
Note: the energy from the sun is produced by fusion nuclear reaction.
Solar Thermal Energy: Point-focusing conventional parabolic concentrator versus the wide-angle non-focusing, or roughly focused, compound parabolic concentrator, or CPC. A CPC is not a point-focused parabolic reflector that only tracks direct sunlight. A CPC works well in either hazy or bright sunlight. Sometimes, they are arranged to roughly track the sun for high temperature applications, but usually they are arranged as fixed flat-plate collectors. Note: most flat-plate fixed collectors are not "Winston CPC" (free U.S. patent in the public domain) concentrating types.
There are now also, ways to roof a building with low cost solar designs that integrate perfectly into the building design. Heat can be stored in large super-insulated water tanks or other simple heat-storage systems until needed.
The Compound Parabolic Concentrator - non-imaging optics discovery.
It appears that Roland Winston, a nuclear physicist, was actually working at the Argonne National Laboratory when the CPC was discovered; the connection with solar came from Argonne's director, Robert G. Sachs:
ERDA's logo, a blazing yellow sun set among a cluster of fifty stars on a sky blue background, symbolized the new agency's commitment to develop all energy sources, ranging from controlled thermonuclear reactions to the earth's winds and tides. For (Robert G.) Sachs, Argonne's principal solar energy project, the award-winning compound parabolic concentrator, also symbolized the ideal synergy between basic science research and applied technology. To ordinary citizens, no area of science seemed more esoteric than high-energy physics. On the other hand, in the popular imagination, no modern technology seemed more promising than solar energy. Sachs took special delight in touting Argonne's compound parabolic concentrator because the new solar collector was based on principles borrowed from high energy physics experiments conducted by Roland Winston on the ZGS (Zero Gradient Synchrotron, a type of powerful particle accelerator at the Enrico Fermi Institute) when Sachs was associate laboratory director.
Sachs himself had played a role in seeing the connection between Winston's experments and solar applications. When he became director of Argonne, Sachs asked for reports on all aspects of the laboratory's research programs. As Sachs read about the problems encountered when conventional mechanical collectors are rotated toward the sun to achieve optimal spot focusing of sunlight, the potential of Winston's research for building efficient solar collectors hit Sachs "like a lighning bolt." Although the solution was obvious, Sachs recalled, sometimes two and two are not put together "until they're right under your nose."
In 1966 Winston built a sensitive counter to collect (and measure) Cerenkov radiation in high-energy physics experiments. Because the blue glow of Cerenkov radiation was so faint, Winston needed to collect all available light. He discovered that the literature on light collectors only discussed forming bright images with either lenses or mirrors. But Winston did not care about getting images as long as he gathered as much light as possible. Consequently, while exploring the field of nonimaging optics, Winston built the CPC, which essentially collected light from all directions. The compound parabolic concentrator, he later learned from Riccardo Levi Setti of the Enrico Fermi Institute, used the same principle for light collection as the compound eye of the horseshoe crab. Until alerted by Sachs, Winston had not connected his research in high-energy physics to solar energy collection. (From web posting of Argonne National Laboratory, 1946-96, by Jack M. Holl, Richard G. Hewlett.)
List of solar suppliers, mostly evacuated tube types. Some also have CPC reflectors to concentrate solar energy onto the collector pipe:
South African solar company with this type of collector.
Irish CPC collector company.
Chinese Company with Winston CPC concentrators, and evauated-glass-tube-insulated heat receiver pipes.
A British Company that claims its products are the best in the world. Winston CPC type.
Solar Genix - supplier of Winston CPC solar collectors. Theirs have simple non-insulated heat collector pipes similar to the Abt Associates building.
Texas Company with highly efficient thermal/Photovoltaic combined concentrating collectors.
Solar Bridge, China. EGT (Evacuated Glass Tubes) heat pipe design.
More Evacuated-Tube-Insulated-Heat-Pipe thermal collectors from China. This company does not run water or coolant through the evacuated tube, but takes the heat out by way of conduction through solid copper rods. Explanation of how their system works.
"Winston CPC" solar collectors from Germany. Evacuated tube insulated collector pipes
YouTube Video about new CPC technology from Isuzu Glass.
Solar air conditioning from India, as well as solar heat, etc. http://www.solarindiasolutions.com/home.htm.
Off the shelf CPC evacuated tube solar collectors from Germany.
