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5.5 Research Pioneers 1950-1959
Erich Farber (1921-1917)
Country: USA
Year Started Research: 1950’s
Title of Research: Experimental research on practical applications
of solar energy
University: University of Wisconsin/University of Florida
Still Active in Research: No
Erich Farber was one of the early pioneers working on solar energy since 1950. He one of the attendees of the first
meeting of solar energy scientists and engineers in Phoenix, Arizona in 1954. Around that time, he moved from the
University of Wisconsin to the University of Florida and set up the Solar Energy and Energy Conversion Laboratory,
which became a well known solar energy research center. His work focused on experimental research on practical
applications of solar energy. He developed working prototypes of applications and displayed them in the solar
energy lab spread over 23 acres of land, which became known as the “Solar Energy Park”. The exhibits at the
solar energy park included solar water heaters, solar cookers, solar desalination stills, solar refrigeration systems,
a solar furnace, a solar steam engine, a number of Stirling Engines and an electric car. Around 1980, Erich Farber
started an educational program called, “Training in Alternative Energy Technologies (TAET)” funded by the US
Agency for International Development (USAID). TAET program educated and trained thousands of scientists and
engineers from many countries in the applications of solar energy technologies. Most of those scientists went back
to their home countries and started very successful renewable energy research and development programs in their
countries. Among his research and developments, various types of Stirling Engines and Nano-Scale Antennas for
solar power conversion stand out. Both of these developments still hold the potential to become successful in the
future. Erich Farber also developed an energy self-sufficient Solar House in the solar energy park for demonstration
and for his graduate students to live. The American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) declared the Solar
Energy Park and the Solar House as a National Historical Landmark in 1997. Erich Farber was born in Austria in
1921 and migrated to USA before WW II to escape Hitler. He passed away in 2017.
John Page (Deceased)
Country: United Kingdom
Year Started Research: 1955
Title of Research: Solar radiation and climate data
University: University of Sheffield
Still Active in Research: No
John Page’s career was devoted to developing climate knowledge bridges, believing these bridges had to span between
the basic work of meteorological observers and applied work of designers located in global design offices. John, who
became Emeritus Professor of Building Science at the University of Sheffield, attended the 1955 International Symposium
on Applied Solar Energy in Phoenix, organised by ISES fore-runner, the Association for Applied Solar Energy; John became
their first UK member. July 1973 - UNESCO hosted the ‘Sun in the service of Mankind’. Forty Brits attended, including
John and Dr. Mary Archer; the idea grew of forming a UK section of ISES, and was launched 24th January 1974 with John
was first Chairman. John received the ISES Farrington Daniels Award at the Kobe Congress in 1989 and was active within
UK-ISES until his death in 2019. John prioritised providing scientific advice to UN Agencies such UNEP, UNCHSS, WHO,
UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In 1974, John (member of WMO Building Climatology
Group) was in Geneva. He believed that WMO needed to give climate aspects of solar energy applications more attention,
but the Secretary General was too busy. In true John style he was invited to lunch the next day with the S.G. John continued
his passion for solar radiation data, co-authoring with countless top international researchers. In January 2000, the first
volume of the new web-based atlas, European Solar Radiation Atlas (ESRA), Fundamentals and Maps, was published,
followed by vol. 2 Database and Exploitation software. In John’s words; ‘I never envisioned when I saw Sputnik 1 satellite
circulating the world one starry night in October 1957 that so much radiation information would be beamed down to us
from the sky above using instruments of ever-increasing complexity. Our climatic task is to help deliver human progress.’
ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions | 25