Solar Institute World's First Solar Energy Symposium

First World Conference on Solar Energy, Phoenix-1955.AFASE

The entire Valley of the Sun was swept up in a wave of enthusiasm, but the time for the economic introduction of solar energy had not yet arrived, and as the delegates to the great symposium departed, so did any significant interest in trying to harness the sun's rays as long as there were apparently endless and very inexpensive supplies of natural gas and electricity.

The Association for Applied Solar Energy operated for several years in Phoenix and then its headquarters were moved to space provided on the Arizona State University campus. Eventually, in 1970, the headquarters were moved again, this time to Melbourne, Australia, where interest in and support for solar energy application greatly exceeded the activity in the United States. Fortunately, the Association (its name changed to the International Solar Energy Society) donated its excellent collection of solar energy documents to the Hayden Library at A.S.U. and this has grown into the world's most comprehensive collection of information on all aspects of solar energy and its utilization.

The economic conditions which dictated the move to Melbourne have now been completely reversed, because the Society has nearly 2,000 members in the U.S., far outnumbering all other nations combined, and action is now under way to return the I.S.E.S. headquarters to its native Arizona. The organization has been an Arizona corporation since its founding in 1954.

A significant advance in the heating and cooling of residences in Arizona-type climates was made in 1967 and 1968 by Mr. Harold Hay, who showed that a small prototype structure could be kept warm in winter and cool in summer without the use of any external sources of energy other than the rays of the sun and the ability of the night sky to carry away heat collected during the hottest of summer days. The system, which was tested every single day for eighteen consecutive months at the Yellott Solar Energy Laboratory in Sunnyslope, uses a metal roof-ceiling which sustains bags filled with water. Above the water ponds is movable insulation, which can be moved horizontally to uncover the water during winter days, thus allowing it to be heated by the sun's rays. The insulation is rolled back at night to retain the collected heat and to allow it to warm the rooms by radiation from the ceiling.

In summer, the operation is reversed, and the water bags are kept covered while the sun is shining and the insulating panels are rolled away at night to allow the day's accumulation of heat to be dissipated by radiation and evaporation to the night sky. This simple system kept the prototype building, a one-room concrete block structure, comfortably warm in winter and cool during two very hot summers without the use of any auxiliary energy. A full-scale residence using this system has been built at Atascadero, California, by its inventor and it too has shown that it can go through a more rigorous winter climate without the use of auxiliary energy. The reality of no more natural gas for new structures in Arizona is causing renewed interest to be expressed in solar energy, and the prospects are bright for the introduction of the Hay system in residences and buildings in the future.