Solar Dreams: a history of solar energy (1878 - 2025)

[carbon1923]

Chile going fully Hydro-Solar for energy generation and perhaps even wind on a smaller scale by the end of the century will leave cities belching so little fossil fuel that it'll be like breathing in healthy country side air.

Just imagine the potential for tourism. Unlike major cities, like New York or London, you will be able to breath clean air while attending various services and entertainment.

 

[Mildtryth]

How is the solar revolution going down in the rest of South America? I'd imagine it could have a huge impact on the Brazilian rain forest if less is cut down for fuel?

Not all that large - the deforestation problem here has more to do with land clearing for agribusiness than it has to do with fuel extraction.

 

[Ogrebear]

Not all that large - the deforestation problem here has more to do with land clearing for agribusiness than it has to do with fuel extraction.

Perhaps, but with solar and such agriculture will go down very differant routes I suspect which means the clearances of OTL will not happen as such.

 

[GullibleCynic]

I see what you did there with Venezuela and Guyana

 

[ScorchedLight]

I see what you did there with Venezuela and Guyana

Actually I had this part of the story planned for about four months, well before Maduro threw his irredentist tantrum. Fucking Chavistas.

I imagine the suits are necessary indeed. Have there been many accidents, or God forbid casualties? (The late 19th century hasn't been stellar when it comes to workplace safety IOTL)

The Franco-Chilena was started by a former veteran officer who owes his life to the rank and file, a man who has experienced poverty and is some flavour of anarchist, and an European academic that would be completely appalled by the conditions of the average Saltpeter Office worker. Their first workers were their demobilised comrades and people who fought on their side, and exploiting them as was common at the time would've been shameful for any of them, especially after a massacre that left hundreds of workers dead.

So the company is unorthodox as it has a cooperative relationship with the workforce and invests heavily in security and comfort for the workers - which in turn are more productive and experienced than the average nitrate labourer, and thus more profitable per peso spent in wages.

This is also in line with the industrial nature of the products made by the Franco-Chilena. They need skilled and intelligent workers to manufacture the fairly complex devices they sell and export and would be difficult to replace if lost, so they are more willing to negotiate with the workforce.

The safety gear is absolutely necessary near the MTE devices, as the mirrors aren't perfectly polished (they are good enough for their task, not astronomical-quality... yet) and irradiate some sunlight to their surroundings, and the focal point also reflects some concentrated sunlight and heats stuff to the point where heat radiation becomes a problem. An exposed man would be sunburnt and experience severe eye damage in minutes if he placed himself in the risk area.

As with any company, accidents are inevitable, but they are significantly lower than in other industrial settings because the workers can communicate their complaints and demand solutions for unsafe conditions.

And this isn't to say everything is peachy in the Franco-Chilena. The Company is quite willing to make their turns from dawn-to-dusk, both as a result of their desire to get more labour out of their workers and the difficulty to establish a regular turn-based day when the production is dictated by the amount of irradiance*.

*: the obvious solution would be to have overlapping turns during midday, when solar irradiance is highest, and leave some idle capacity when only one turn is working. This is obvious, but not very intuitive from the manager's point of view.

This must be a bitter-sweet moment for Mouchot to look back at later - his child has reached that awkward teen stage and is out of his control.

Still I hope Chile is well on its way to becoming a major centre for Solar and even hydro-power research, be such a turn around from OTL.

The mention of Edison by Isidora Goyenechea is based in OTL. The first Hydroelectric powerplant in Chile was the result of a collaboration between Edison and Isidora Goyenechea, which means that ITTL Edison will be among the first US actors interested in the applications of Solar energy, especially in regards to electricity.

As for Mouchot, there comes a point in which he could be a late Edison (become a manager, have the name become a brand and let others solve the increasingly complex and specific problems which require special training) or a late Tesla (refuse to accept this and make increasingly wild promises based on your lack of understanding of these specific problems).

But he is a satisfied man. He made his point, and made a fortune in the process. Now it's time for him to bother others to optimise a Fresnel lens or to create more reflective mirrors.

I do agree with the president, the company is nearing Megacorporation dimensions in the country.

The company is still fairly small in comparison to other Chilean businesses and fortunes, like the ones in the hands of the Edwards family (Mines and formerly media, but since their newspapers were instigators of the TSC massacre, they bailed from that business), or the gigantic landowner clans like the Errázuriz, and dwarfed by the rest of Isidora Goyenechea's businesses.

The difference is that they are causing several economic shocks in Chile, having more in common with the Edison or Westinghouse companies than the typical chilean rentier capitalism. They produce added value and intellectual property, instead of extracting wealth from the land.

Just imagine the potential for tourism. Unlike major cities, like New York or London, you will be able to breath clean air while attending various services and entertainment.

I imagine that reports of entire industries operating without chimneys will cause disbelief in several parts of the world, at least for a while.

Not all that large - the deforestation problem here has more to do with land clearing for agribusiness than it has to do with fuel extraction.

Perhaps, but with solar and such agriculture will go down very differant routes I suspect which means the clearances of OTL will not happen as such.

Here's where some sort of pause to consider the effects of the Walipini greenhouse (and derivative technologies that will sprout naturally from these devices) will have in the food industry.

People will have a more reliable access to food variety, and food of better nutritional value than the cereals that would come to dominate the diets of the 20th century, which would probably lower the demand for cereal-based monoculture and intensive farming.

That remains uncertain for now, and would require a lot more thought to give a good answer about the extent of the change in comparison to OTL.

Dietary changes will be a fun topic to speculate, though.

 

[generalurist]

Ahh the sound of industry- no fires here this time! This run-through of the solar furnace was a pleasure to read. I love it. Chile has a bright future as the industrial power of South America!

and the machines... began to sign. As if they were giants waking up, they also started to move in expectancy of the sun.

Odd choice of words here. Did you mean 'sing'? Not sure what you were going for.

[...]The operational debut of Almonte Este was the conclusion of Agustin Mouchot's research, and also marked the beginning of the end for the "Heroic Age" of Solar Energy development.

End of an age indeed. With the successful demonstration of the solar furnace at commercial scale, Mouchot's quest to make it a fixture of the technological world is complete. It is no longer a matter solely for tinkering master inventors, but one for the scale of massive companies and national policy. Yet it's still in its early stages, there is so much to explore for just copper let alone other minerals. Fostering a culture of innovation, encouraging others to aspire to succeed Mouchot, will go a long way.

 

[Mad Bad Rabbit]

Odd choice of words here. Did you mean 'sing'? Not sure what you were going for.

or "sigh" (making breathy noises as fluid starts flowing through them?)

 

[ScorchedLight]

Ahh the sound of industry- no fires here this time! This run-through of the solar furnace was a pleasure to read. I love it. Chile has a bright future as the industrial power of South America!


Odd choice of words here. Did you mean 'sing'? Not sure what you were going for.

Noted the mistake and corrected it.

or "sigh" (making breathy noises as fluid starts flowing through them?)

It refers to the shanties sung by the MTE operators. Given that nobody in the Franco-Chilena was able to come up with a way to automatically track the gigantic solar collectors (Hess had similar problems in Sicily with his concentrator arrays), they use a brute force approach of having them crewed and treated like a ship. Shanties help the men to coordinate and keep timing, as well as providing distraction from a rather dull task.

Sun tracking is one of the great limiting factors of solar technology at the moment, as automatic tracking mechanisms will have to be developed from scratch to suit a necessity that didn't exist fifteen years ago.

This is also gives Cottrell's Solar Boilers a huge advantage: they are a linear through that only requires adjustment once a day (and even then, it isn't critical if one day is skipped). They can operate mostly alone.

 

[CountDVB]

It refers to the shanties sung by the MTE operators. Given that nobody in the Franco-Chilena was able to come up with a way to automatically track the gigantic solar collectors (Hess had similar problems in Sicily with his concentrator arrays), they use a brute force approach of having them crewed and treated like a ship. Shanties help the men to coordinate and keep timing, as well as providing distraction from a rather dull task.

Sun tracking is one of the great limiting factors of solar technology at the moment, as automatic tracking mechanisms will have to be developed from scratch to suit a necessity that didn't exist fifteen years ago.

This is also gives Cottrell's Solar Boilers a huge advantage: they are a linear through that only requires adjustment once a day (and even then, it isn't critical if one day is skipped). They can operate mostly alone.

I don't know how these trackers could work and I imagine it can't be done through complicated clockwork like how John Harrison did so. I do think the shanties ae a neat trick and I wonder what clever trick someone will come up with this.

 

[Ogrebear]

Question for @ScorchedLight - how are woman invovled in the Chile operation given how their role is developing in Egypt?

Obviously the Big Boss is a woman, but is there some diversity in the workforce?

 

[focus9912]

September 1893
Santiago, Chile

I

Eusebio Lillo still had trouble digesting the fact that he was the President, reflecting over the first cup of coffee. He was planning in retiring after being minister for his friend José Manuel, to dedicate his life to poetry and the arts. To reconnect to the young man that once re-wrote the National Anthem, and to spend the end of his life in comfort.

But duty had plans, too. His friend José Manuel, the former President, had left an unfinished work and asked him to complete it. And so he ran, winning against the Radicals who had stepped to fill the vacuum left by the murderous Conservatives. If there was any consolation for the ruin the Conservatives brought to the country by inviting the wrath - and the greed - of the British Empire, at least coordinating with Congress became easier. A solid Liberal majority, with a minority led by the Radicals who only disagreed in the depth of the investment plans started by Balmaceda.

I just realized that Lillo presidency should be seen as a pretty obvious outcome from a mile away, considering the fact that he managed to stay at the job for I guess the entirety of ITTL Balmaceda's term (compared to IOTL where the portfolio being practically a revolving door)

How would the country fare without the nitrate wealth? Even after Congress approved his plan to prospect and nationalize every mineral deposit that could be discovered, the only viable alternative, at least in the short term, was copper. Copper, whose value had been low for a few decades, which might be enough to pay the debts incurred in the war and keep the government working, but... how much would be left to grow and invest? Perhaps that Frenchman would deliver on his promises on removing energy costs from the equation. If so, perhaps it'd give the nation some room to breathe. If.

The door knocked. The Presidential Office became a real space again, the idle speculation gave way to the matters his position attended, and his mind focused on the first appointment of the day. The first one of which was a reunion with the Venezuelan Consul, a folk of so little presence whose name he had to recheck from his notebook. Alberto de Villé. A tedious, unremarkable man who somehow got a position in his country's diplomatic corps. But tedious as it was, the work needed to be done as professionally as possible.

- "Joaquín, please take a seat and grab some coffee. Consider it an intelligence gathering operation, since it was a gift from the Colombian Ambassador." - Eusebio said, playfully.
- "Oh, I'll have to write a report about this." Joaquin Armendariz said. "We can't let our neighbours win this important war!" - And there it was: the Venezuelan just didn't know when to stop. He asked entirely too many irrelevant questions and said too many irrelevant things, such as a comment about Eusebio's poetry which only extended the meeting unnecessarily.
- "But tell me Joaquín, what can I do to help you and the people of Venezuela?" - Eusebio said, once it became clear that the Consul wouldn't state his business without prompt.
- "Oh" - that sound somehow came out insulting - "We'd like to know if the Republic of Chile would act as mediator between the Republic of Venezuela and the British Empire."
- "So your namesake is planning on pushing the issue of the Essequibo?" - Eusebio Lillo said, to the point.
- "Indeed. Gold and oil has been discovered in the region, and those resources belong to the People of Venezuela. We're asking or Chilean brothers because we see this as an opportunity to strengthen Latin American union and independence. And the Venezuelan people won't forget. Those resources will help Chile regain their nitrate fields."
- "... I see." - Eusebio said, just to sound natural. He knew the Consul wasn't a smart man, he needed a moment to process the sheer absurdity of what he was proposing. Chile still had British ships on its ports, and was heavily involved with British capitals even outside the Nitrate industry. It wouldn't be a fair arbitrator, and that Joaquin de Ville didn't take that into consideration just baffled Eusebio Lillo. He made a quick, discreet note reminding him to ask Joaquin Crespo Torres for a replacement as soon as possible. - "I don't know if we can fulfill the needs of an impartial arbiter in the case."
- "Why not?" - The Consul asked.
And the President, in his most diplomatic tone, answered.
- "Well, I understand where you are coming from. Perhaps it was unwise to ask you, but we genuinely think this would be a good way to strengthen the relationships of the nations of South America."

I think you missing a (albeit extremely short) remark from the consul here, or perhaps the two sentence should just be combined as a long but straight to the point remark.

- "Perhaps you should expand your views. America is a large continent, and we should aim to strengthen the relationships with all our neighbours, including those beyond Latin America."
- "What are you implying?" - Joaquin de Ville asked.
- "Well, if there's one country that could match the British Empire in the world's stage, that's probably the United States. They share a history with the English people, and are connected to us as well. So I think that they would be a far better fit for your needs, and those of the British Empire as well." - Eusebio answered, hoping it would put an end to the matter.

To his surprise, it did. And with that the rest of the meeting went out down as boring routine. Eusebio practically counted the minutes for it to end.

II

It ended, eventually. And after that came a reunion Eusebio was actually looking forward. Edward Strobel, the Envoy Extraordinary of the United States, was a man who stood in contrast to Joaquin de Ville... and to the little imp, Patrick Egan.
- "I know this isn't the most diplomatic thing to say, but I think you'd like to know that Patrick Egan has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy, and will see time behind bars."
- "Is that so? I would toast to that, as undiplomatic as it may seem."
- "I'd rather not, I've been feeling under the weather these days, and I'm not planning on taking chances with a drink."
- "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Does that mean that you won't be coming with us to the inauguration of the copper plant?"
- "I must remain here for the time being" - The Southener sighed with disappointment. - "But I really wanted to see the advancements Dr. Mouchot is achieving in the desert."
- "We'll make sure to bring plenty of documents for you, Henry."
- "Please, do that. That climate control unit your administration gifted the Embassy... it's really convinced the naysayers in our staff. It has even reached the ears of President Cleveland."
- "Has it, now? And what's the opinion of my counterpart in Washington?" - Eusebio asked, feeling an unexpected surge of national pride.
- "There's nothing official yet, but President Cleveland would like to establish a channel of technological cooperation between our countries. We know that Goyenechea and Cottrell have both aggressively patented most of the advances associated to solar energy generation, but maybe Chile and the United States can reach some sort of trade agreement regarding tariffs and licensing of the technologies."
- "Tariffs and licensing in exchange for what?" - Lillo asked.
- "That's up to you. I could do some suggestions, but Mr. Cleveland said that it'd be better if you named your terms. However, if I had to suggest something, maybe it could be assistance in the development of rail infrastructure."
- "That sounds like an exceedingly generous offer. One that we'd be fools to not consider. I'll gather my cabinet after the visit to discuss this matter. However, there's one thing you need to consider: the technology doesn't belong to the Chilean State. It's in the private hands of the Franco-Chilena and Isidora Goyenechea. We could discuss tariffs and even subsidies, but we can't outright provide something that isn't ours."
- "Nevertheless, the Chilean State is in control of the tariffs and taxes which affect these devices. If we can't command what private businesses can do, we can at least poke them in a direction."
- "That's all we ask. This exchange will greatly benefit our two nations, and will benefit us as equals."

As equals.

Eusebio remembered the arrogance of Egan, and the difference with Strobel was refreshing. The meeting went smoothly after that, and only ended in a bit of awkwardness when the President mentioned the intentions of Venezuela to seek a representative on its dispute. That it wasn't quite a faux pas - indeed, it wasn't even a violation of protocol - made it somehow worse. The US Ambassador made some awkward gestures to relay this information to his superior.

III

I see what you did there with Venezuela and Guyana

Actually I had this part of the story planned for about four months, well before Maduro threw his irredentist tantrum. Fucking Chavistas.

Yeah, a first look at the IOTL tribunal on the boundary, and then comparing to the ongoing events ITTL, there is perhaps a change in the underlying dynamic of a ITTL theoretical arbitration between Venezuela and the UK that could seriously affect some things.

BTW, do I sense that there will be some rail electrification, or at the very least, a railway that could accommodate a single theoretical journey between Arica and Castro...

Eusebio signed the last document of the day - authorizing Manuel Baquedano, the former Commander in Chief to act as a negotiator between the general strike and the wool exporting companies - and his day ended. He put the down his pen and got out of the Presidential Office, soon leaving La Moneda as the last rays of sun warmed Santiago. Surrounded by his discreet security detail, he walked the short distance between the Presidential Palace and his home. Nothing had changed in the city, not really. A few palaces had gone up, and a few buildings were rising over four stories tall, but Santiago had been growing ever since he was a boy. The sights were the same, as were the sounds.

Or so he thought. The faint murmur of Stirling engines coming from the roofs of some houses wasn't there before. The solar-powered devices extracting the last watts of energy from the dying light. A subtle change, for now. But one that was already impacting the way people lived. Fewer fires were reported last year, and heated water stopped being a luxury for thousands as Mouchot's devices became widespread. Eusebio himself had started a habit of taking a warm bath each night, and the hot water was just there when he needed. No need to start a boiler or call an operator.

The shadow of Agustin Mouchot laid long. The man had gambled on an unorthodox idea, and succeeded so far. It had catapulted Chile to an unlikely place of leadership, of which Eusebio still struggled to grasp its importance. And now the Frenchman had doubled down on the gamble, putting the destiny of the nation in his theories. If Mouchot was right, then Chile had a wealth that dwarfed even the nitrate deposits. If he was wrong, it would lead the country to ruin.

Eusebio took that bath, but this time he couldn't relax as he felt the warm water.

IV

The President instructed his Interior Minister Joaquin Godoy, for one last time before boarding the train that would move them to Almonte, to monitor the strike in Punta Arenas and keep a close eye on the Army troops deployed to keep order. The situation was calm at the moment, but neither the workers nor the business owners were willing to negotiate. It was only a matter of time before someone made a mistake, and Lillo wanted to make absolutely clear that every soldier - and every worker and business owner, for that matter - knew the rules of engagement before acting if necessary. He had prohibited the use of large pieces or crew operated weapons, and limited the bullets each soldier carried to twelve. Enough for the soldiers to defend themselves if attacked, but enough to carry a massacre like the one that brought so much ruin to Chile.

Err...

With any luck, Baquedano would be able to broker a deal between the parts, and establish a precedent to solve these kinds of issues in the future.
Joaquin Godoy repeated the request back to him, a habit he had acquired during his brief time at the Navy, and went on his way. Eusebio boarded the train, the last man to do so. With that, the train started to move towards Almonte.

- "Always making an entrance, uncle". - A thin young man of sharp features asked. - "What took you so long?"
- "The plight of the working class, of course." - Eusebio said. - "How are you doing, Baldomero?" - He asked, inviting his nephew to sit at the same table as him. He was grateful to have someone on the train that took his mind away from his duties.
- "Intrigued about this company of yours. I want to see if the rumours are true."
- "That they've harnessed the energy of the sun? They did so. I know for certain that they can melt tons of rocks in minutes."
- "Not that. A company that actually treats their workers well." - Baldomero said.
- "Oh. That." - The President said. - "It has been influential, to say the least."
- "Do I hear some nuisance on your voice?"
- "Sometimes I wish they weren't so unorthodox. They are causing ripples all across the country."
- "And neither José Manuel nor you did anything for quite a while. In fact, you celebrated the care the Franco-Chilena took for their workers back in the day."
- "That was when the company employed a few hundred veterans led by a former officer, an eccentric scientist and a damn anarchist, and were causing trouble for the new owners of the Saltpeter deposits."
- "Which was convenient for you and Balmaceda. The nitrate industry isn't as profitable now that they have to provide the basics for their workers."
- "Yes. It was convenient then. We thought they'd be bankrupt in a few years. Now they're employing thousands and making business from here to Cairo. And every worker from Tacna to Punta Arenas now wants the same conditions the Franco-Chilena provides!"
- "And is that so bad?"
- "It's disruptive. Whole industries have developed under some presumptions, and altering those might signify the deaths of them. What will happen when every last peasant and itinerant worker starts demanding that stuff?"
- "That'd be a shame." - Baldomero's answer was corrosive.
- "The Franco-Chilena can afford it because they have an effective monopoly on the Americas and Europe. They've made damn sure to patent every invention and discovery they've made in Almonte. They can afford to pay their workers those wages. This isn't the case for the the large landowners and the industrialists that must compete with each other. Margins are thin."
- "Thinner than the palaces they've built on them?"
- "That's not the point. The point is that that company exists outside the local context. It's not comparable." - Eusebio answered, but Baldomero raised an uncomfortable point.

Honestly, reading @GSD310 's TL made me more attentive on the individuals that is interacting in TLs, since it may be minor in a big picture, but once you look further into it, you suck in a deep rabbit hole that revealed a intricate and fascinating story of said individuals...

V

Almonte, Chile

A day and a half later, under a setting sun, the train arrived directly to Almonte. What was once a sun blased village with dirt paths and adobe houses had transformed into a thriving town built on bricks and cobblestone and lit by gaslight, with scaffolding covering several structures still under construction. President Lillo saw several businesses on the main street, from hardware stores to restaurants. And on one corner of the green, defiant main square, the Almonte Hotel was prepared to receive the Presidential entourage. A three-story structure of prefabricated steel and iron, designed by the same architect that did the Chilean Pavilion in the Paris Exposition of 1889. Eusebio considered it a bit excessively decorated, but it was still an impressive building. The flags and patriotic decorations were a nice touch, but Lillo wasn't sure if they were prepared for the occasion, or an early manifestation of the national festivities of the month.

It didn't matter. Waiting at the entrance, a welcome retinue awaited them, headed by Isidora Goyenechea, Constantino Serrano and Agustin Mouchot. Greetings and formalities were exchanged and both groups entered the main hall, were dinner would be served.
- "Your Excellency, you'll be delighted to know that our own Docteur planned this dinner." - Said Isidora Goyenechea, who seated next to him.
- "A man of many talents, I can see." - Eusebio answered. - "A toast, then, for the man of the hour!"
- "For the man of the hour!" - two dozen men said, and Eusebio saw Mouchot blush across the table.
- "It was nothing... really." - the Frenchman said. - "If anything, it was a nice change of pace from the last few months."
- "I can see that you've kept yourself busy, Agustin." - The President said, the weariness of the travel leading him to relax the strict protocol. - "This town has changed substantially since we last saw it."
- "That's not my making, your Excellency. I just had a promising idea, and I could bring it to reality. The men who built this are your two compatriots who believed in that idea. Without Constantino's eye for management and business and Alejandro's careful dealings with our workforce, I'd still be teaching in a school in Orléans and this place would still be another village in the desert."
-"Ah, and a man who's also immune to flattery." - Which again caused Mouchot to blush. - "Then, at least, let me praise you for your skills as a sommelier! This wine is truly excellent."
- "There I will take full credit. What you're drinking is my personal reserve of Chateau Latour, 1880 vintage. It feels strange to be able to afford luxuries, but I won't cut costs on wine now that I can afford it."
- "I've told him to buy a vineyard and make his own." - Isidora Goyenechea replied, playfully. - "Given how much potential the Franco-Chilena has, he could afford to buy one every year and scarcely notice it."
- "Tell me more about that potential" - Eusebio said. - "If there's someone who should have the bigger picture in mind, it's you Madame Goyenechea."
- "Well, you might know that the Franco Chilena's factory works without using a single lump of coal. Until recently it did, as some processes needed heat during the night. But Agustin cracked that particular problem about six months ago. Something about melting points, which I can barely understand let alone explain. But what you might not know is that the Franco-Chilena is that the consumption of coal in the northern zone has noticeably decreased, and in Santiago has barely grown in comparison to previous years. These devices are being sold as south as Chiloe. Coal prices are dropping as a result. In two or three years, I think we will be exporting coal instead of importing it. In ten years? I don't have any idea. This is like asking what would happen ten years after watching the first locomotive."
- "And what will happen to Lota then?" - Eusebio asked.
- "I've taken some steps. We're placing a hydroelectric dam near the town with the help of Mr. Edison, and the coal might be used in steel making. We produce iron, so it's just a matter of installing the industrial infrastructure to supply the country. The people of Lota are hard working, which is the true wealth of the town. Letting them go to waste would be a mistake."
- "And this is how progress comes to the country. Working together, we might become a fully industrialized nation." - Eusebio said as he raised his cup. - "To Industry!"

...and made me more appreciative of the minor details that some had put in the TL.

And two dozen men toasted. The dinner continued.

VI

The President heard the knock on his door. A few seconds for his mind to initiate, and then he remembered he himself asked for the wake up call. He watched out the window and to the west he saw some blue on the black sky. Under the electric light, the clock indicated it was barely half past four. Under any other circumstance, this would be a preposterous hour to wake up. This day, it might as well decide the fate of a nation. Today, Eusebio Lillo would see if the power of the sun could indeed power a metal refinery.
He went down to the dining room and ate breakfast. His entourage was, for the most part ready. Even Baldomero was sitting, ready for the day. Outside, also at the ready, were ten stagecoaches.

The dark blue gave way to a brownish red as the caravan approached it's destiny in the east. Eusebio saw in the distance a yellowish glow, coming from the ground illuminating some barely distinguishable structures. In the dying darkness, the glow looked sinister and the structures, menacing. Eventually it was drowned by the ambient light, and he could distinguish take a good look at the structures. Ten identical towers, far taller than the Intendancy of Santiago. They held a dish inside which reflected an inversion of the surrounding landscape and sky.

The red gave way to a yellow in the east, surrounded by a light blue. The caravan was now close to the foundry The sun would rise in a few minutes, and the machines... began to sing. As if they were giants waking up, they also started to move in expectancy of the sun. Eusebio looked expectantly at the towers to see what would happen once the sun hit, but wasn't prepared for the flash of light and cracking sound the machines made as soon as sunlight hit their dishes. Air humidity and dust were vaporized by the concentrated heat, and for a fraction of a second they were visible, and then the only evidence of something happening were the glowing spots - most of them hidden from view by the infrastructure - where the collected sunbeams hit. The sound of machinery and men working started, but no smoke came out of the refinery's chimneys.

At the entrance of the site awaited three figures covered in heavy white canvas punctuated by black visors. The voice of Constantino Serrano greeted them, and Eusebio deduced the other figures were Agustin Mouchot and Alejandro Puig.

- "What are these clothes you're wearing?" - The President asked.
- "Sun suits." - Constantino Serrano answered. - "Nobody goes inside the refinery or 500 meters near a MTE tower without them, unless they want to get a nasty sunburn. This includes you, your Excellency."
- "Very well. I don't want to miss this." - Eusebio answered. - "So this is the solar refinery you were building?" - He asked after putting the working garb. The visors were almost opaque, but he could see wherever the concentrated beams hit.
- "This is the conclusion of my associate's work. We weren't sure if it would work when we started the project, so we made it thinking in a quick conversion to coal if it didn't pan out." - Serrano answered.
- "You sound as if you didn't have much faith in your associate's abilities."
- "Actually it was me who designed it this way." - Agustin Mouchot said. - "I was the most skeptical of the capacities of my devices to provide the required temperature and heat. I had to improve the designs quite a bit to get it to achieve this level of performance. The focusing array in particular took one year."
- "And what are the results?"
- "The results are that we managed to completely eliminate coal from the production process. All the heat this refinery needs comes from the sun. Those chimneys fired once, to test them, and have remained silent ever since. These devices produce the equivalent heat of ten tonnes of coal per day at their minimum capacity."
- "And how much copper could be produced with that energy?" - Eusebio asked.
- "Using the established method, we're producing around five tonnes of refined copper per day." - Agustin Mouchot answered.
- "And how does that compare to the national production?" - Eusebio asked. The numbers were never his forte.
- "About 10% of the national production."
- "In this single facility?" - Eusebio asked in disbelief.
- "Yes, that's the minimum rate of production. In the summer solstice we can achieve around 7.5 tonnes... if we can feed it that much." - Mouchot answered.
- "What do you mean by this?"
- "Well, the problem is that the nearby copper mine isn't providing enough ore for us to refine. It's an issue of scale of production that leaves our machines idle."
- "That doesn't sound efficient. Have you considered getting ore elsewhere?"
- "We have, but you have to understand that this facility is experimental." - Mouchot said.
Experimental, and it was still capable of producing a significant chunk of the copper Chile would export.
- "We built a refinery based on a coal-powered process, which has a fundamentally different way of providing heat and energy. For example, grinding the ore isn't needed when applying direct solar heat. It is even a bit counter productive. Just by disposing of that process we could significantly improve the efficiency of a Concentrated-Solar plant."
- "By how much?" - Eusebio asked.
- "Grinding spends 57% of the energy needed for the traditional process. We currently have a steam engine hooked to a phase-change battery." - Mouchot explained that invention, a way to store solar heat using molten sand for use during the night. - "that grinds the stone. Bypassing that step would lead to a 130% increase in production. However, I am not a metallurgist and I can't say this for certain. What I can say for certain is that we can dependably reach temperatures of up to 3250 Absolute. What we know for certain is that we can replicate this process, and we need to properly understand. We could provide oxygen-rich or anoxic atmospheres, cryogenic cooling and more... it will take years of study to get the most out of these technologies."
- "So going back to the basics. We can fully replace coal and reduce costs."
- "That's the long and short of it for now." - Mouchot agreed.

The tour continued, each part of the process explained to an exhaustive detail. Esuebio noted how his nephew grew closer and asked his own questions Alejandro Puig, and followed him when one of the workers asked for the presence of Alejandro for some sort of urgent matter. After that, a lunch and a final inspection to the plant, which ended just as the sun began to set.

Yeah...I would not be surprised if a form of political thought similar to Allendismo would probably already be formed and well defined by the time Allende would be born....

- "I have one last question, Docteur. How do you intend to keep operating once the sun goes down?" - Eusebio asked.
- "Oh, most of the low temperature processes, by which I mean those that use motive steam or heating of liquids, obtain their heat of the phase change pools. You probably saw their glow on your way here. Since the temperature remains constant throughout the whole phase change process, we can reach exact temperatures and pressures needed. That's how the grinding machine keeps operating through the night." - Mouchot explained.
- "And what about the other processes? The melting of the ore, for example?"

Mouchot just stared blankly for a moment, as if the President had said something very stupid.

- "Those processes are energy-dependent. There's only so much energy that can be extracted from the sun each day, and trying to keep high-temperature processes through the night would be less efficient than using that heat directly. Anything that needs to be melted is better melted during the day."

And against that logic, Eusebio Lillo couldn't argue. With a working proof that direct solar refineries were viable, he breathed a sigh of relief. Chile had just gained a margin to maneuver the coming years of economic uncertainty.


[...]The operational debut of Almonte Este was the conclusion of Agustin Mouchot's research, and also marked the beginning of the end for the "Heroic Age" of Solar Energy development. This solar-powered refinery was a definite proof that complex industrial processes could be decoupled from fossil fuels for and remain competitive (or, in the right places, vastly outperform them). It was the first solar project whose political impact was directly measurable (in contrast to the ambiguous scheming carried out in Egypt) and shaped the policy of the Lillo and second Balmaceda administrations. Lillo directed the Rector of the University of Chile to create the Department of Solar Studies, the world's first research bureau dedicated exclusively to the development of solar technologies. Balmaceda would deepen this focus, transforming the Atacama Desert into a hub of energy intensive industries that took advantage of the extreme solar irradiance of the zone.

At the same time, it marked the decline of the influence of individuals like Mouchot in the development and maturity of these technologies. Like electricity the decade before, solar energy had become too complex for any one person to completely understand it all. Agustin was fully conscious of this change and, while still one of the most important contributors for the company until his retirement, he shifted his focus towards the creation of an institutional culture of innovation. Phase Change Batteries serve as an example, as they were proposed by Mouchot and developed in an independent manner by a team of engineers. Although he still had one significant contribution to deliver in the next years, the trend was clear and inescapable: the knoweldge had become too specialized for individual geniuses to revolutionize.[...]

[...]On a tangentially related note, Baldomero Lillo, the President's nephew and a writer who'd go on to write Sub Sole in the 1905 which documented the life of the workers of the solar and nitrate industries published the short story 'The Refugee' after witnessing an incident in which a runaway saltpeter worker crossed almost a hundred kilometers to search work in Almonte. It is the earliest work of fiction focused on this emerging industry[...]

Well (other than perhaps a few minute phrasing problem), it is an excellent update....keep it up

P/s: As for the other discussion surrounding this chapter (like air quality, agriculture, and women of Chile) I think we would only see the real effects and changes at the turn of the century at the earliest...

 

[Veblen Fudge]

It refers to the shanties sung by the MTE operators. Given that nobody in the Franco-Chilena was able to come up with a way to automatically track the gigantic solar collectors (Hess had similar problems in Sicily with his concentrator arrays), they use a brute force approach of having them crewed and treated like a ship. Shanties help the men to coordinate and keep timing, as well as providing distraction from a rather dull task.

They sing shanties!? While pulling MTEs!

This is the best timeline ever.

Though I should note that of the European powers, there really are very few Spanish sea(or other) shanties. It seems to be a mostly North Atlantic tradition, branching out to the Pacific during the early 1900s. Maybe this universe will see a broader catalogue of Hispanophone work songs, if anybody bothers to write them down.

 

[ScorchedLight]

Question for @ScorchedLight - how are woman invovled in the Chile operation given how their role is developing in Egypt?

Obviously the Big Boss is a woman, but is there some diversity in the workforce?

There's not any significant difference between this and OTL. While some women worked in industrial settings, most were confined to the private sphere or worked on jobs that weren't as physically demanding.

The conditions that happened in Egypt are very different than the ones in Chile. The first solar boilers were bought as a cost-saving measure and, correspondingly, were operated by a cheaper source of labour: women. Additionally, the indigenous devices found a local niche that's closer to the private sphere and tasks considered "feminine", like cooking. This led to a stereotype of women being more suited to work in solar-related topics, before the rest of society realized the potential of the technology.

Chile, by comparison, has seen the development of industrial-scale applications from the very beginning, and had a vast and cheap labour pool from the demobilised soldiers coming from the War of the Pacific. Solar energy isn't associated to any sex per se, but the industries that demand these devices are very prone to employ men over women, something that has carried on to the Franco-Chilena. In this regard, it acts as any other industry in Chile.

 

[ScorchedLight]

They sing shanties!? While pulling MTEs!

This is the best timeline ever.

Though I should note that of the European powers, there really are very few Spanish sea(or other) shanties. It seems to be a mostly North Atlantic tradition, branching out to the Pacific during the early 1900s. Maybe this universe will see a broader catalogue of Hispanophone work songs, if anybody bothers to write them down.

(Sorry for the double post)

I just took this as a reasonable assumption that a Chilean Navy NCO would know some shanties, given the English influence that goes all the way back to Lord Cochrane's antics in the War of Independence.

 

[ScorchedLight]

1905 ad for Gillette's "Cryo" Razor. The increased durability of this blade, as a result of cryonically-treated room-temperature Austenite steels, briefly granted the American Safety Razor Company a near-monopolistic status that ultimately led to Congressional hearings in 1911 .

Stirling-Solar technologies developed in Germany and Chile during the last decade of the 19th Century drastically decreased the price of ultra-low temperature liquified gasses. In addition to making cryogenic treatments affordable at industrial scales, air liquefaction also represented the first successful example of widespread storage and distribution of Solar energy. The liquid nitrogen was produced in the United States Solar Crescent between California and Texas, and then shipped to the American Safety Razor Company in Virginia.

The "Cryo" series would quickly became obsolete, as metallurgical processes saw a rapid advancement and diversification in the first decades of the 20th century, as a result of the possibility to reach very high temperatures in anoxic conditions. Due to this, they are rare and fetch high prices among collectors.

 

[holyknight]

(Sorry for the double post)

I just took this as a reasonable assumption that a Chilean Navy NCO would know some shanties, given the English influence that goes all the way back to Lord Cochrane's antics in the War of Independence.

.. Unfortunately more than often, several shanties aren't.. Exactly the most appropriate to sing around ladies ....

 

[Ogrebear]

“the United States Solar Crescent between California and Texas” - I imagine that’s where the majority of produced in bulk for industry but solar should be viable for power all across the USA?

I could see electric cars, trams and trains existing or staying around forever ITTL.

 

[conman15]

“the United States Solar Crescent between California and Texas” - I imagine that’s where the majority of produced in bulk for industry but solar should be viable for power all across the USA?

Yeah but the quote "solar crescent " gets a LOT of sun trust me

 

[carbon1923]

I can just see the Solar Barons fighting to prevent the Texan Oil being extracted as a mirror to our timeline.

 

[CountDVB]

I can just see the Solar Barons fighting to prevent the Texan Oil being extracted as a mirror to our timeline.

I don't think they'll be as successful, if mainly because petroleum's other properties outside of fuel.