Editing Parabolic trough (section)

== Early commercial adoption ==

[[File:US Patent 1240890.pdf|thumb|A 1917 patent drawing for Shuman's parabolic trough solar energy system]]

In 1897, [[Frank Shuman]], a U.S. inventor, engineer and solar energy pioneer built a small demonstration solar engine that worked by reflecting solar energy onto square boxes filled with ether, which has a lower boiling point than water, and were fitted internally with black pipes which in turn powered a steam engine. In 1908 Shuman formed the Sun Power Company with the intent of building larger solar power plants. He, along with his technical advisor A. S. E. Ackermann and British physicist Sir [[C. V. Boys|Charles Vernon Boys]],{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}<!-- be cautious of circular references --> developed an improved system using mirrors to reflect solar energy upon collector boxes, increasing heating capacity to the extent that water could now be used instead of ether. Shuman then constructed a full-scale steam engine powered by low-pressure water, enabling him to patent the entire solar engine system by 1912.

Shuman built the world's first [[Solar thermal energy|solar thermal power station]] in [[Maadi]], [[Egypt]] between 1912 and 1913. Shuman's plant used parabolic troughs to power a 45–52 kilowatt (60–70&nbsp;[[Horsepower|hp]]) engine that pumped more than 22,000 litres of water per minute from the [[Nile River]] to adjacent cotton fields.  Although the outbreak of World War I and the discovery of cheap oil in the 1930s discouraged the advancement of solar energy, Shuman's vision and basic design were resurrected in the 1970s with a new wave of interest in solar thermal energy.<ref>{{cite book
 | last=Smith | first=Zachary Alden
 | author2=Taylor, Katrina D.
 | title=Renewable And Alternative Energy Resources: A Reference Handbook
 | url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_z1v3 | url-access=registration | publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]
 | date=2008
 | page=[https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_z1v3/page/174 174]
 | isbn=978-1-59884-089-6}}</ref> In 1916 Shuman was quoted in the media advocating solar energy's utilization, saying:

{{quote|We have proved the commercial profit of sun power in the tropics and have more particularly proved that after our stores of oil and coal are exhausted the human race can receive unlimited power from the rays of the sun.|Frank Shuman|New York Times, July 2, 1916<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/07/02/104680095.pdf American Inventor Uses Egypt's Sun for Power; Appliance Concentrates the Heat Rays and Produces Steam, Which Can Be Used to Drive Irrigation Pumps in Hot Climates], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 2, 1916.</ref>}}