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"Every scientist worth his salt that I know of has read science fiction."
- Greg Bear

Solar Power Generation  
  A very early description of the use of solar powered 'farms' for generating electrical power on a large scale.  

Steam-boilers are also placed at the foci of huge concave mirrors, often a hundred feet in diameter, the required heat being supplied by the sun, without smoke, instead of by bulky and dirty coal. This discovery gave commercial value to Sahara and other tropical deserts, which are now desirable for mill-sites and for generating power, on account of the directness with which they receive the sun's rays and their freedom from clouds.
From A Journey In Other Worlds, by John Jacob Astor IV.
Published by D. Appleton and Co. in 1894
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  More Ideas and Technology from A Journey In Other Worlds
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