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5. 1950-1959
5.1 ISES 1950-1959
1951
• The American Academy of Arts and Sciences organised a conference on the Sun in the Service of Man.
Participants were primarily from the Boston area, many being from Harvard and MIT.
1952
• An Ohio Academy of Sciences symposium included topics on solar radiation, heating, photosynthesis,
photochemistry, photovoltaics, and optical systems.
• Farrington Daniels met Henry Sargent and suggested that there was a need for an organization to promote
the development and application of solar energy—i.e. a solar industry association.
1953
• Farrington Daniels, with financial support from the National Science Foundation, organised a symposium
in Wisconsin on solar energy, covering a wide range of topics and with 30 speakers from five countries.
The proceedings were published in Solar Energy Research.
Figure 2: Farrington Daniels, a key figure in the establishment of AFASE, and the first SES President elected
by the membership 1964 – 67.
1954
• The Symposium on Wind and Solar Energy, held in New Delhi, India, was organised and supported
by UNESCO, and attended by Farrington Daniels and Prof. Felix Trombe, the French solar scientist.
Participants toured locales in India where the potential of solar energy to improve the lives of the
population seemed particularly high.
• A group of men from industry, agriculture, finance, and education -- all interested in furthering the practical
application of solar energy -- met in Phoenix, Arizona March 17, 1954.
• At this meeting Henry Sargent, with Walter Bimson and Frank Snell, organised the Association for Applied
Solar Energy, AFASE. Articles of incorporation, signed by the three founders, were filed with the State of
Arizona on December 24, 1954.
• Henry Sargent was elected the first AFASE President.
• The Association’s objectives, as stated in the by-laws, were “to foster and encourage the research,
development, application and education in fields related to solar and other energies.”
ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions | 19