Page 100 - ISES SWC50

Stephen Kaneff (1926-2015)
Country: Australia
Year Started Research: 1971
Title of Research: Solar Thermal Power
University: Department of Engineering Physics of the Research School
of Physical Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Still Active in Research: No

Emeritus Professor Stephen Kaneff established the field of solar energy research at the Australian National
University (ANU) in 1970-71. From an early stage Kaneff settled on dish concentrators operating in distributed
fields as the strategic choice. Stephen Kaneff led a number of key major projects in the following decades. Professor
Kaneff graduated from the University of Adelaide with a PhD in Engineering in 1956. In the following decade he
held positions with the University of Adelaide and was a Carnegie Fellow. In 1966, Kaneff took up the position of
Professorial Fellow at the ANU Research School of Physical Sciences. Five years later he was appointed Professor
and Head of the Department of Engineering Physics, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1991. The
White Cliffs Power Station was arguably the world’s first commercial solar energy power station. It was designed
and built by Kaneff and his team after being formally commissioned by the NSW Government in 1979. The solar
thermal power station provided a base for research and allowed the successful demonstration of the economic
and technical viability of solar power. The station was fully functional in 1981 and provided power to the White
Cliffs settlement for over a decade, being finally decommissioned in 1994. In 2006, the solar power station was
declared an Australian national engineering heritage site. It has presently been reopened as a working educational
museum. Professor Kaneff’s life-long commitment to full-time research and development activities in benign energy
sources and applications (amounting to a 40 plus year legacy) continued after his retirement as Head of the Energy
Research Centre. His contribution has helped establish Australia as an international leader in solar energy research.

Joseph Kohler
Country: United States
Year Started Research: 1977
Title of Research: Passive Solar Performance Modeling; Investigation of
Glazing to Mass Ratio
University: Total Environmental Action, Harrisville, NH
Still Active in Research: No

Dr. Joseph Kohler was an Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Worcester
Polytechnic Institute when he became interested in energy conservation and passive solar energy
while teaching a course in Environmental Engineering. In 1977 he resigned his teaching position and
joined Total Environmental Action (TEA) in Harrisville, NH. Joe worked on the computer simulation of
passive solar buildings in a research project sponsored by Brookhaven National Labs. He also
developed TEANET, a thermal network program that ran on a programmable calculator and was used
to model the dynamic performance of passive thermal mass systems. Joe then collaborated with Dan
Lewis to develop TEASOL, a more versatile thermal network simulation that calculated the annual
energy use of passive solar buildings using actual weather data. Using TEASOL they determined the
amount of thermal mass required for various glass areas in passive solar buildings in various areas of
the country. The results were published in the “Passive Principles” series for Solar Age Magazine in
the early 1980’s. In addition, Joe was a reviewer for the early HUD Solar Grants and was a frequent
presenter at various Solar Conferences. Joe and Dan later founded Kohler and Lewis, a mechanical engineering
firm that specialized in designing energy efficient HVAC systems. They were among the first engineers to design
energy recovery ventilation systems for schools. They also designed large biomass heating systems using wood
chips and pellets and were among the first engineers to specify air source heat pump systems. Joe and his wife
Mona Anderson built a super-insulated “net zero” stone house in 1979, providing electrical power with a micro
hydro system and a small PV array. The off grid micro hydro system was still in operation 40 years later, and the PV
system was significantly enlarged and grid connected.

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