SOLAR ENERGY, WATER, AND INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS IN ARID LANDS; TECHNOECOLOGICAL OVERVIEW AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

This paper provides an overview of solar energy technology, examining solar energy at the level of industrial ecosystems or technoecosystems, and the relationships of these systems to the arid lands of the world. The paper presents technoecology as a useful approach for understanding, designing, and managing solar-powered industrial systems and as capable of providing a basis for coherent, comprehensive, successful solar energy research and development strategy. The paper also discusses why solar-based civilizations may soon be a part of our world and makes projections about when they may arrive and what they may be like. Past, present, and future interactions of sunlight, water, and technoecosystems in arid lands are examined. This is done through a series of analogies comparing solar energy technoecosystems to biological ecosystems. These analogies include evolution, succession, symbiosis, niches, competition, optical concentration, and other phenomena which occur in both the industrial and biological worlds. Solar collectors are discussed as analogous to plants in design, organization, and arid adaptations. Photovoltaic solar cells are considered analagous to chloroplasts, but without the latter"s need for water. In addition, the cost effectiveness of solar cells over the next few decades in relation to fossil fuels is discussed. The paper discusses, as one of its main themes, that within a few decades, solar power will replace fossil fuel power. Solar technologies for water processing are reviewed. Recommendations include: the need for synergistic international cooperation, development of cheap solar cells, and nurturing of a new solar consciousness. Attached to this technological overview is a 125-item, supplementary reference bibliography which covers the period 1965-78. An extensive annotated bibliography of 100 references ranging from 1966-77 is also appended.