1930 How They Tried To Kill Solar

[@retromodernart4426]

Did anyone else notice how visually pleasing and how well narrated this video was? Absolutely top-quality content and aesthetic, thank you very much Dr. RMS!

[@lukesalter-ec3hh]

Mr Smith sir, I thank you sincerely for your insightful and broad discussions around energy usage, energy development, and the mechanics behind these things. I only recently discovered your channel, At the start of a five week road trip and I have Binged the whole time you are every teacher I ever wished I had. But 39 not too old to start! Have a wonderful summer sir!

[@billytollerton4220]

If they can't put a meter on it ,you are not getting it ,period.

[@q.e.d.9112]

Of course, and obviously. Even if the source of the energy costs nothing, the infrastructure has a capital cost and there are ongoing maintenance costs. Why would “they” make that available to you for free. BTW. The use of an unspecified “they” as the “baddies” of your hypothesis should be avoided unless you’re happy for readers to assume you’re a full-time, conspiracy theorist.

[@richardsandwell2285]

Yeah they may try, but I have solar thermal and solar voltaic with batteries, they can shove their rip off energy.

[@AlienLivesMatter]

Get it for yourself

[@billytollerton4220]

@@q.e.d.9112 maybe I should have said between paying for a supply, and continually getting bent over and raped .

[@thomasking5970]

@@q.e.d.9112 Try reading for context; "They" are _obviously_ the utility companies. Infrastructure capital cost doesn't need to be perpetually paid for, and maintenance costs are minimal over time compared to the profiteering involved.

[@David_Mash]

Sun Queen: Mária Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist and inventor who worked on solar energy technologies.

[@konkow-kv5yu]

Troll,u didn't even watch it

[@WilliamAndrewPhilipBodie]

@@konkow-kv5yu ??? how do you know ???

[@David_Mash]

@William Bodie don't mind them, of course I watched the entire video. I am a huge fan of Rob and his work.

[@David_Mash]

@Jeffrey Wolsieffer are you suggesting a maintenance themed salt battery? Like an ABS plastic tube with removable end caps?

[@vivviedarling9336]

Is it not great that Maria was engineering in the 1930s, I am happy to have encountered her work before. Now where to get myself a lake of sodium sulphide and some ruddy great big concentrating mirrors 😂

[@anthonynowlan9765]

Fascinated by phase change. Only paraffin ever gets mentioned.

[@totherarf]

When we go on holiday to sunny climes we invariably see solar water heaters bolted on to virtually every house roof. That should tell us something!

[@AurynGaming]

Would love to see more video's like this, felt like a history lesson is a nice format that stayed relevant to your channels theme!

[@11Sam11]

Interesting fact to note. In 1839, Edmond Becquerel in an age of 19 officially discovered the “photovoltaic effect” through his photography where a flash of light on photographic material shown to have electrically conductive properties.

[@buccaneerrex]

Very informative! My father was installing solar thermal panels in Los Angeles in the early 80s for swimming pool heaters. There's a lot that can be done with the kilowatt of sunlight per square meter beyond catching it in a crystal and knocking electrons out.

[@michaelhicks3030]

It's interesting to think of just how the government and the corporations have muscled their way into our lives at every point. A decoupling is needed.

[@MrAnderson4509]

Once again thank you for bringing this all back up to the light. I saw the testing if this salt thermal storage system, as a seven year old I went on a field trip with school and saw the salt system. Great coverage Robert, hope it sparks them to life to do for them selfs👍

[@colrodrick8784]

Thanks Robert. Just out of interest, what would you call the devices that you said were similar on Amazon?

[@RPRosen-ki2fk]

Robert I love when you mix in this type of educational/historical videos to your maker content. Keep up the OUTSTANDING work.

[@TimeSurfer206]

Robert, I'd like to point out that, post WW Deuce, 30 year mortgages were the exception. Most Long-Term mortgages were 20 to 25 years, and only done for the most egregiously expensive houses. Most properties like the Levitt house would have had a 3 to 5 year note, tops.

[@AlienLivesMatter]

Nice detail

[@turkeytrac1]

Maybe in the states but my WW2 veteran grandparents were on a 25 yr mortgage here in Canada. With no need to renegotiate every 4-5 yrs.

[@wilhelmd.ubergut3257]

Much admiration for your commitment to sharing knowledge, and much love from Canada, Rob!

[@stoffel89]

In south africa we have a huge problem. Our electricity grid is on the brink of collapse due to government corruption in state owned enterprizes. People are buying batteries, inverters, solar panels, charge controllers etc like crazy. We have rolling blackouts between 7 and 12 hours per day. Supply and demand is causing a rise in prices. And the average joe cannot afford it. Storage of energy is the main problem. To utilize the sun/ wind one can make a plan.

[@PaulBrunt]

You really had a strange air of Fred Dibnah about you in this one. I'd love to see more videos like this 🙂

[@michaelorgan9222]

Exactly as I thought!

[@pinballrobbie]

Would make an excellent Dr Who

[@DaveKahn]

I was thinking more Jon Pertwee's Dr. Who.

[@mooneym.3642]

He always reminds me of Anthony Hopkins.

[@colleenforrest7936]

In 1904' Manuel António Gomes, best known as Padre Himalaya, a Portuguese priest, scientist and inventor, won the St. Louis World's Fair Science and Technology prize over Edison's electric lights. The device he won with was a mass of metal and mirror called the Pyrheliophor Solar Furnace. Among other things (acting as a telescope at night) in the daytime it was capable of reaching temperatures of 7000°F. Although a prise winner, no one wanted to buy, dismantle, and transport after the Fair ended, and nothing much more came of it after that. His designs are worth looking into, including a solar cooker that you can easily tilt away from the sun and access from under the mirror which might be adaptable to power a home solar Stirling engine/generator.

[@mikehoward5012]

Thanks for the entertaining videos mate! Out of curiousity, have you determined the actual yield on return of the metal(s)? And or the purity? I'd wonder if a sandblaster may yield quicker results - but this may damage the photo-sentive glass and take more time to extract in smaller batches... Thanks again!

[@leslieapplegate65]

My Hubby was a big supporter of passive solar. His house was all passive solar. He would have loved exploring some of the ideas you present.

[@401ksolar]

I have a thermal air heater that works nicely for direct heat during fall - winter - spring, in the summer it can be used to dump heat outside and providing a vacuum draft to pull heat off of ceiling.

[@turkeytrac1]

Thanks Doctor for your timely info. Now, if one were to combine solar thermal with with a Stirling cycle engine, I think that for over night uses that could help up the ante in using alternative sources for electrical generation. I do like the idea of using solar thermal for heating and cooling.

[@orpheuscreativeco9236]

Now one must become an indentured servant for life in order to acquire a home 😅 Great vid Rob!

[@OKFrax-ys2op]

Just move to East Cleveland, Ohio. Your $$$’s will go a long way. Buy a slum city block for 1/2 price of a real house 🤔💥🥊🤣

[@matthewgallagher4913]

Well Rob, there has got to be a few videos recreating the brilliant Telkes inventions. The thermal store alone is marvelous. As ever, thanks for the great history lesson.

[@RPRosen-ki2fk]

I agree, I'd like to see more about the solar heating technology that Maria Telkes invented. Has it been improved upon and is it still being used? It sounds so interesting.

[@pcdoodle1]

Top quality video. The forest adds something cool and your dress up adds an authority to the historical message. Thanks for the production. I watch a good chunk of your videos when they show up in the feed.

[@recumbentrocks2929]

That was really interesting. Had no idea using solar had such a long history. Shame that big money always puts the spanner in the works.

[@Smo1k]

Much of Rome's initial wealth came from evaporing sea water for the salt using the sun 😉

[@hawks9142]

If only there was a system that doesn't rely on infinite growth but rather focusing on the good of the people...

[@thefoamcollective1308]

We live in the Baltimore Washington DC metro area, and so are well acquainted with Levitt houses, with Bowie MD about halfway between these two cities.The main problem with the Levittowns were the white only policies that they enforced for most of the communities they built. Also they often sacrificed quality for quantity, and got into trouble for both practices in the 60s and 70s. Still their assembly process and the layout of the communities were groundbreaking for their time. As a point of interest, those same houses are selling for around $500,000 at this point. Thanks for the history and your amazing channel!

[@docink6175]

my uncle bought a new house in the 3rd Levittown just outside Philadelphia Pennsylvania, he and my aunt still live there

[@elgorrion52]

I saw a solar powered stirling engine at Usk alternative energy festival a few years ago; it used the dish reflector from one of those old round electric fires, or maybe from a camping gaz heater for the hot side

[@bethwilton8075]

Spectacular video, Robert.Learning cool stuff is always fun on your channel. I also appreciate the way you dress. Always dignified sometimes especially dashing, you show respect for your subject matter and your viewers with your attire. When you are teaching us history you dress a bit nicer,extra special because what the video is about is extra special.Very nice!

[@Nick_Tag]

Staggeringly well researched video well well done Rob

[@edwardphillips8460]

Another fine video. And looking dapper in that waist coat and vest combo. I know I couldn’t pull that off. Keep up the good work.

[@chrisjoyce6321]

Excellent summation. Kudos.

[@LittlePetieWheat]

There is no better solar collector than the tree. Interesting to see you production values going up.

[@darrellpidgeon6440]

Such a nice journey down History Lane. One little act can make such a big difference.

[@vivviedarling9336]

I really enjoy your content, I would love to reduce my reliance on heating oil. I am almost on empty, and will cost over £1000 to refill my tank, wholesale price is rock bottom but cost to me as consumer is as high as it was last December. I'm only one person and I cannot keep paying these prices. I am actively seeking Earth-friendly alternatives.

[@dav1dbone]

Normally these are shared costs between a group of neighbours, sounds like you are paying a premium as it's just a single household. Did you consider a wood burner?

[@VeniceInventors]

Is there any way you could collect and filter cooking oil from nearby restaurants? That should cost you next to nothing. It works with diesel cars so I'm assuming it would work just as well in a furnace.

[@tradermunky1998]

Solar distillation pack sounds super cool, need you to build one 👍

[@marcelb.7224]

Very nice to hear about Maria Telkes. She was ingenious

[@michailnicki2224]

Right now I'm working on my desiccant "air conditioning" unit. It will still be supplemented by a conventional heat pump, but I'm doing my best to not just buy an AC unit and then forget that it uses electricity. I managed to repair a 10kW inverter (offgrid for the win!) and I'll definitely use it in a larger PV configuration, but alternative power sources are looking more and more attractive really, since I'm just a student and I can't afford to just throw my money away haha!

[@Steve-uu7yx]

I never considered the origin of suburban housing, this was surprisingly super interesting. Thank you!

[@JSabh]

The solution is simple yet takes work many are not willing to do. Three basic steps, 1: grow hemp ( it absorbs 1.4X the amount of CO2 that it expels when burned so in effect, it removes CO2 ) 2: Harvest and process ( dry it, grind it, and put it into a sealed vessel to heat it to 1200 F and gasify it ) 3: While gasifying, the reaction produces syngas and liquid petroleum ( run a standard generator while the reaction takes place, store the oil and use it when needed all the while removing CO2 from the atmosphere).. tada. Seriously, it is that simple. Use solar and wind to run the reaction if you want, or use the stored fuel oil and have a great day with no relying on anyone, just the rain and sun. The thing that stops people is the work, I gladly put the work in and it serves me very well.

[@noonehere1793]

That frock coat is stellar!

[@friedeseimitdiroxmox4669]

I enjoy Your English, humour and good manners. Greetings from Lüneburg, Germany

[@simongross3122]

That's a great history lesson, thank you. You are 100% correct about corporations and governments trying to control what should be free. Here in Australia, our energy companies are offering to install solar panels on your house "for free". Of course this is a trick. You end up paying for them over a couple of years, and they are not cheap. ROI is not attractive, particularly if you want batteries as well.

[@Quasime42]

One of your best! Thank you!

[@MrMaster72]

Great research and informative

[@MichaelRada-INDUSTRY50]

Dear RObert, can you share the link to the Solar (salt) thermal energy you mentioned, developed and invented yb the gert lady you mentioned. Thank you

[@donbangert]

Fascinating history lesson. Much enjoyed it!

[@JesusSaves86AB]

God bless you and your critical thinking Robert. A learned man is scarce in 2023.

[@praisebewibble]

Solar power is underutilized. Im sitting in a boat that uses solsr for boiling the kettle, a small tv, a small 220v compressor fridge, all the lights and i just cooked a steak on the induction hob. All only from 2 x 175 watt solar panels equipped with a mppt charger and a 2kva inverter , not forgetting of course the 150amp hour litium battery. Its a sunny day today but I can assure you that all summer long the fridge is working 24/7. Useless in the winter , mind you but for the summer months , brilliant .

[@jswets5007]

The greatest measure humanity can effect is not to generate electricity more efficiently. It is to reduce our dependence upon it.

[@seeker1015]

I was born in Adelaide South Australia where we had, in the 50's, thousands of the original Swedish flat pack houses built. Ours was in the Eastern suburbs. Sadly, most are demolished now or have been trucked to new life's in the country. My sister lived in one until recently and her house was only just chomped up and sent to land fill a week ago to make way for two units on the one block. Probably with black roofs, the in thing apparently! The house I was born in is still standing, as is its neighbour because they have both been asbestos clad when I was several years old and removing asbestos is a headache and a huge cost. Mum didn't like the idea, cost and labour of repainting every decade so she it the bullet and had it covered in big sheets of the stuff. Bizarrely, when they are moved, know nothing councils insist that they have more wall studs put into them before being approved. Never known one to blow down or apart in my 69 years, but that's councils. Hopefully, while the re-studding is being done, insulation will be put into the walls. Sister found out from someone who had done a study on the history of them, that when they arrived at our local port and were unpacked, the workers threw away loads of wood wool, thinking it was "just packing" but it was Swedish insulation. Given SA's, at times, fierce Mediterranean climate and frosty winter , it would have been a boon when I was growing up. The ceilings were self supporting and meant all the internal walls could be removed or shifted around without problems. On solar thermal, I have an evacuated tube water heater, which gives loads of free hot water and is not affected by frost like flat plate heaters are. If I had another, I could use it to provide skirting board heating.

[@davidprocter3578]

Of course we had our own huge prefab estates here in the UK. Built to house bombed out civilians, they were built from precast concrete and asbestos panels. Much loved by many of their residents as they represented quite an upgrade in their living conditions and for the first time in their lives had a small garden. I remember well the demolition of these large estates back in the early to mid sixties, and how people moaned at the loss of their homes, many of whom were moved into soulless blocks of flats. Politics eh you got to love it. But other than their Crittall windows I don't recall any other real solar. Quite a number of these post war prefabs survived up to the nineties and have seen the odd one asbestos stripped within the last twenty years. Does anyone know of a WW2 prefab still standing near them?

[@davidmunro2077]

There are some in Stranraer brick skinned and with new pitched roofs

[@davidprocter3578]

@@davidmunro2077 Thanks David quite intriguing the odd little sites where they turn up.

[@10sheds21]

I think there are some still in use in Lincoln straight on from outer circle road

[@davidprocter3578]

@@10sheds21 Cheers , I remember one large estate being pulled down at Shire Oaks in 63 or 64 fairly sure they were the Asbestos Arcon type.

[@cazicature]

There were still some in Dagenham in essex a few years ago

[@barleyhopps]

Without Solar energy, the Earth would freeze.

[@vivviedarling9336]

Solar power generated everything living we see in the world.

[@barleyhopps]

@@vivviedarling9336 It definitely keeps everything moving.

[@dereksollows9783]

Thanks very much for this. History and engineering are brothers.

[@dotmatrix2002]

Excellent narrated video sir. I salute you,

[@industrialmonk]

I have been looking at combination solar pv & heat for over 10 years but every time I asked the supplier/manufacturers questions I received no response or fudge answers like wind generation & arrived at the opinion that in north west Europe the diminishing returns made it practically useless as if it was so great the supplier's/manufacturers would of been helpful & bragging about their products so I went for pv only not happy but that's the way it is.

[@JehuMcSpooran]

I forgot about sodium sulphate. I was trying to experiment with it for that exact reason. I first was playing with sodium acetate but it's melting point was a bit too high so I wanted to try sodium sulphate as it had a lower melting temp and then try to do the old hot ice trick with it. Unfortunately, I could only get sodium bisulphate and had some other issues like a flood that ended my experiments.

[@st33ldi9ital]

I like the idea of combined solar and wind. Wind capture device made of solar capture material.

[@richardsandwell2285]

Had Solar thermal since 2003, homemade and it owes me nothing, about 70% efficient compare to my 15% efficient photovoltaics, but both are useful and have made me independent. The energy companies are most scared of Solar Thermal. I once attended an energy conference, the minister for energy was in attendance amongst many business interests and energy companies. Believe you me, THEY HATE SOLAR THERMAL, and they do anything to discredit it. Mostly using Legionella legislation has a cosh against it. Regardless of that my system provides HOT not warm water and its from the sun with out top-up heat.

[@OO-ex5iq]

I believe I still have in storage a couple of waxed flares used by the ambulance service LCC days to be used by p-supers.

[@Wizedealsales]

Thank you for another great video

[@WikWak]

Such an underrated channel

[@paulschonewald4735]

They are used for hot water in Cyprus, lots of houses have their own on the roof and you would hear them boiling over in the hotter months.

[@jdrissel]

I have been wishing I could go grid independent, but it just costs too much and my roof seems like it was designed to foil the installation of solar panels (almost all small triangles and narrow trapezoids with minimal southern placement possible).

[@stewartpalmer2456]

Dr. Smith, just for giggles, a thought occurred to me the other night, woke me up from my slumber, we are having a huge problem world wide with plastic waist buildup. Using a rescue blanket made parabolic lens, could pyrolysis be conducted at the focal point? This could be a huge aid in other countries.

[@stephenroberts643]

love your stuff rob

[@fuller-media]

Great Tutorial Dr

[@go4acro]

Wow, dude so amazing. Yes grandpa heats his outside pool to 30 celcious with a 100 meter tube.

[@peterkent2138]

Very interesting, thanks Rob.

[@DavidD6969]

Very well done 👏

[@toml.8210]

At Levittown, the built 40 houses every day. It got so big, even the construction workers got lost!

[@jimdaly5077]

👍👍love the history 👍🐝🌞

[@daviecrocket9160]

Some people would say it was a conspiracy haha You really are doing your duty Sir I wish you well

[@xzendon]

Phenomenal!

[@werner-de-jong]

Hi Robert. this episode I was stunningly and visually reminded about the lord of the rings / bilbo baggins. I mean this as a compliment and enjoyed the episode greatly. :)

[@wazza33racer]

Its more sustainable to use solar thermal collectors to heat a high temperature liquid to drive a stirling engine. The efficiency is as good or better than PV and doesnt need ridiculous toxic materials and could last a very long time.......the only limit would be the number of operating hours a stirling engine can last for. Another bonus is that the hot liquid can be stored after sundown and continue to drive the stirling engine........a thermal battery. PV panels will have to improve, or they will become a massive,toxic recycling nightmare. OR just build Thorium MSR (molten salt reactors).

[@Barskor1]

Interesting IRC the salt used for the solar heat system is a byproduct of Tesla's new lithium extraction process and they said were going to do home heating and air conditioning systems.

[@baraBober]

Great video!

[@jwioo]

Solar thermal has to be a subject for a new project.

[@easy_s3351]

I remember the Turbocaldo system form Italy from about 10 years ago. A parabolic mirror that would catch the sun's heat to run a Stirling engine to produce energy. Don't know what ever came of them, they seem to have disappeared.

[@joshuafoster8976]

How does her heater stack up today?? Your channel has looked at sand batteries,water accumulation, weights, thermal mass. But ive never seen anything on telkes work.... But obviously it must have been good if it worked in Florida all those years ago. Proven template is rare when revisiting ideas

[@__--JY-Moe--__]

cute little History snippet!! who would have known?? U'r a Historian!

[@jusjuri]

love ur work robby

[@scizorunleashed]

Finely dressed gentlemen talking science is incredibly attractive

[@AlienLivesMatter]

Great episode

[@TonyWhite22351]

Yet another example of the destructive influence of Ronnie Raygun

[@sebastienbonus-plumridge1024]

Great video but I have a question. If solar can "easly" store heat in a hot summer day, how would you go around generating cold with that energy ? (ex. transfer, electric generation ...) With a big bravo for your chanel. Have a great day (every day)

[@kadmow]

well as I have both at my place, I think the power of the sun to heat water is extremely useful (of course intermittency still exists)..

[@allmomomosthomebus3895]

A very interesting video.

[@R2NOTU]

From that time they solved the energy problem they work day and night can be put in conductive paint then on your walls fenses in the fabric of your beds

[@MaximusJohal]

The solutions have always been there for a better tomorrow, shame the greedy corporations has killed it.

[@mac-qt3wd]

Hi rob, still convinced solar cells are a bad knock off of a bi-polar junction transistor (current amplification device) add one more p or n junction to a solar cell and im sure theyd be far better. Kinda sure, dont really know lol

[@DanielSMatthews]

About 80% of PV systems installed in Australia don't have adequate or any surge redirection installed, so it is only a matter of time before a solar storm irreversibly damaged their semiconductor junctions by an over voltage. Sometimes the biggest threat is not some conspiracy but simply greed and ignorance. It can't have been that expensive to do the job correctly in the first place surely?

[@burnthetv007]

Thankyou ❤️

[@PplsChampion]

the green suits you

[@overbuiltautomotive1299]

Robert i figured i see the "Time And Relative Dimensions in Space"TARDIS 📲machine somewhere in them thar woods popping into reality

[@bastrous9121]

Seventy years of research waisted. Greed is an indictment on our society.

[@PaulChapman1bz]

Greed should be punishable once identified

[@nattsurfaren]

Peoples ignorance are heaven for propaganda. Thinking about the War and Ronald Reagan

[@R2NOTU]

20 years ago they opened the band with on quantum dots or nano