Solar energy and the Energy Institute of the National University of Engineering (1962-1969)

Amaya E. · Journal of Physics: Conference Series (2020) · DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1433/1/012012

Resumen

This article examines one of the first institutional initiatives that promoted the study of solar energy in Peru. For this purpose, the case of the Energy Institute, a unit attached to the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (FIME) of the National University of Engineering, is analyzed during the 1960s. The Institute concentrated its efforts on the location of the regions with the highest solar incidence and in the development of devices that could use successfully this kind of energy. Through the hermeneutic analysis of journals, bulletins, theses, interviews and the use of specialized bibliography, we build a historical account in which the role of the Institute and its exponents for the promotion and research of solar energy is highlighted. With this objective, the article is divided into three sections, the first one details the context in which there was a greater awareness of the role that energy played in national development. Secondly, the changes that FIME went through and that allowed for the creation of the Energy Institute are described. Finally, the works undertaken by the Institute in the field of solar energy and the profile they take over time are exposed. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería