Shuman built the world's first solar thermal power station in Maadi, Egypt (1912-1913). Shuman's plant used semi circle shaped troughs to power a 60-70 horsepower engine that pumped 6,000 gallons of water per minute from the Nile River to adjacent cotton fields. Frank Shuman (/ ˈʃuːmən /; January 23, 1862 – April 28, 1918) was an American inventor, engineer and solar energy pioneer known for his work on solar engines, especially those that used solar energy to heat water that would produce steam. This groundbreaking finding laid dormant for over a century until 1954 when Bell Labs created the first practical silicon solar cells. She spent much of her life researching solar energy and designed many solar-powered. The story goes back as far as 1839, and it includes giants of science such as Einstein along the way. Throughout her career, she published widely on the topics of solar heating, thermoelectric generators and distillers, and electrical conductivity of solid electrolytes. Originally from Hungary, Telkes came to the U.
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