Page 36 - ISES SWC50

4.6 Industry Pioneers Pre 1950

Rudolph Bloch

Country: Israel
Year joined industry: in the 1940’s
Company first worked for: Dead Sea Works
Technology area: Solar Thermal
Still active in the industry: No

Dr Rudolph Bloch was the Director of Research of the Dead Sea Potash Works. During his work he noticed a
temperature inversion in the evaporation ponds that he associated with a salinity gradient which stopped convection
and lead to higher temperature at the bottom. In 1948 he registered a British Patent for a solar pond acting as a
solar collector. Nobody was interested in it only in 1954 he broached the idea to Harry Tabor who then started a
serious research which lead to the construction of a number of ponds culminating with a power station of 5 MW
built in 1982 by Ormat, who operated it for 7 years, but was decommissioned when the oil prices collapsed.

Richard Crowther (1910-2006)

Country: United States
Year joined industry: 1945
Company first worked for: Richard Crowther, FAIA Architect
Technology area: Solar Architecture/Buildings
Still active in the industry: No

Richard L. Crowther, FAIA, was an architect and author who achieved international renown for his progressive
holistic compositions, particularly his pioneering designs employing passive solar energy. His pioneering work in
residential solar technology led to lectures at the Smithsonian Institution, solar conferences and universities across
the U.S. Crowther’s architecture publications are still used to teach students. His “Sun-Earth” text has a reputation
for setting a benchmark in holistic architecture design, with arguments outlining economic and environmental
benefits. He practiced what he preached, both by living and working in holistically designed spaces, and by a diet
replete with organic and natural foods. Starting in 1945 with his own home, Crowther began to implement passive
solar energy systems into the residences and office buildings he designed. This resulted in him being much sought
after to design architecture implementing these systems throughout Colorado and the southwest. He wrote books
and lectured about this topic both within the United States and internationally, and his innovation and ideas are
still studied and admired by architecture students to this day. Some of his solar buildings in Cherry Creek North still
exist, including his former headquarters at 310 Steele Street and his residence at 500 Cook Street. He also helped
design and implement the Atmospheric Science CSU Solar House Environmental Village project at Colorado State
University in Fort Collins. A partial list of the numerous books, pamphlets and articles Richard Crowther wrote is as
follows:
Ecological Architecture; Butterworth–Heinemann, 1992 ISBN 0-7506-9171-9
Sun, Earth: Alternative Energy Design for Architecture; Simon and Schuster paperback, 1983 ISBN 0-442-21498-7
Affordable Passive Solar Homes: Low-Cost, Compact Designs; American Solar Energy Society, paperback ISBN
0-916653-00-5

18 | ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions