Augustin Mouchot (; ; 7 April 1825 – 4 October 1912) was a 19th-century
French inventor of the earliest solar-powered
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
, converting
solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...
into mechanical
steam power
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
.
Background
Mouchot was born in
Semur-en-Auxois
Semur-en-Auxois () is a commune of the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. The politician François Patriat, the engineers Edmé Régnier L'Aîné (1751–1825) and Émile Dorand (1866-1922), and the Encyclopédiste Philippe Guéneau de M ...
, France on 7 April 1825.
["Augustin Bernard Mouchot"](_blank)
in Archives départementales, retrieved 22 January 2018 He first taught at the primary schools of Morvan (1845–1849) and later
Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlies ...
, before attaining a degree in Mathematics in 1852 and a Bachelor of Physical Sciences in 1853. Subsequently, he taught mathematics in the secondary schools of
Alençon
Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people).
History
The name of Alençon is firs ...
(1853–1862),
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
and Lycée de
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
(1864–1871). It was during this period that he undertook research into solar energy, which led eventually to his obtaining government funding for full-time research.
Solar research
Mouchot was drawn to the idea of finding new alternative energy sources, believing that the
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
which fueled the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
would eventually run out. In 1860 he began exploring solar cooking, drawing on the work of
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and
Claude Pouillet
Claude Servais Mathias Pouillet (16 February 1790 – 14 June 1868) was a French physicist and a professor of physics at the Sorbonne and member of the French Academy of Sciences (elected 1837).
Biography
He studied sciences at the École n ...
. Further experiments involved a water-filled
cauldron
A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot (kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...
enclosed in glass, which would be exposed to the heat of the sun until the water boiled; the steam thus produced would provide motive power for a small
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
. By August 1866, Mouchot had developed the first parabolic trough solar collector, which was presented to the emperor
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
in Paris. Mouchot continued development and increased the scale of his solar experiments. The publication of his book on solar energy, ''La Chaleur solaire et ses Applications industrielles'' ("Solar Heat and its Industrial Applications") (1869), coincided with the unveiling of the largest solar steam engine he had yet built. This engine was displayed in Paris until the city fell under siege during the
Franco-Prussian War in 1871, and was not found after the siege ended.
In 1861 M. Mouchot gave the name of Heliopompe to one of his invention, and in 1865 he had several small engines of this description at work at Tours, Indre-et-Loire.
M. Mouchot avoided the use of parabolic mirrors and added a glass jacket to retain the heat.
In September 1871, Mouchot received financial assistance from the
General Council General council may refer to:
In education:
* General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland
* General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...
of
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...
to install an experimental solar generator at the Tours library. He presented a paper on the generator to the Academy of Sciences on 4 October 1875, and in December of the same year he presented to the Academy a device he claimed would, in optimal sunshine, provide a steam flow of 140 liters per minute. Later the following year he sought permission from the ministry to take leave from his teaching position in order to develop an engine for the Universal Exhibition of 1878,
[Letter, 20 October 1876, the Minister of Education, National Archives File, Mission of Augustine Mouchot Algeria] and in January 1877 obtained a mission and a grant for the purchase of materials and execution of his solar engines in
French Algeria
French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...
, where sunlight was in abundance. The director of science missions recommended Mouchot to the Governor of Algeria, stressing the importance of his mission to France, "for science and for the glory of the University".
Universal Exhibition, Paris 1878
![mouchot1878x](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Mouchot1878x.jpg)
Returning to metropolitan France in 1878, Mouchot and his assistant
Abel Pifre
Abel Pifre (1852–1928), was a French engineer who developed the first solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar ...
displayed Mouchot's engine at the
Universal Exhibition in Paris, and won a Gold Medal in Class 54 for his works, most notably the production of ice using concentrated solar heat. However, the continuing economic benefits of the
Cobden-Chevalier Treaty, combined with a more efficient internal transportation for coal delivery, meant that coal became increasingly cheaper in France, reducing the necessity for research into alternative energy. The French government assessed in a report that solar energy was uneconomical, deeming Mouchot's research no longer important and ending his funding.
Mouchot subsequently went back to teaching. He was not completely forgotten however, and was named Lauréat de l'Institut by the
Institut de France
The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...
in 1891 and 1892, receiving prizes for work of the imagination. He died in 1912 in Paris.
References
Further reading
* This book describes Frank Shuman's solar project in Egypt and Mouchot's machine.
* Printing a Newspaper by Sun Power. (1883, January - June). Leslie’s Monthly Magazine, 15(1), 381–382.
External links
Paul Collins, ''The Beautiful Possibility'', Issue 6 Spring 2002Earth Portal Archives: Energy Quotes*
ttp://translate.google.com.au/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cottier.org%2Fproduction%2Fedisonplus.htm&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 La Chaleur SolaireUtilization of Solar HeatSolar Printer Mouchot 1882Call for research "Soleil Journal" newspaper printed in 1882SteamPunk Solar - Solar Heat and its Industrial Applications. An English translation of La Chaleur Solaire et ses Applications Industrielles
SteamPunk Solar - Solar Engineering in the Age of Steam. An English translation of the rare 1879 Second Edition of Mouchot's 'La Chaleur Solaire et Ses Applications Industrielles.'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouchot, Augustin Bernard
19th-century French inventors
People associated with solar power
1825 births
1912 deaths
People from Montbard