Solar ‘genius' fuming: Inventor still vexed by government, industry [View All]

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http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080107/BIZ/801070359

Published: January 7, 2008 6:00 a.m.

Solar ‘genius' fuming

Inventor still vexed by government, industry

By Elizabeth Douglass
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES – Harold Hay wants to help the world save itself, but he’s running out of time.

Forty years ago, Hay invented a simple, inexpensive way to heat and cool a home using the sun’s rays, but without the panels and wiring that come with conventional solar energy systems.

He has been pushing for its adoption ever since, trying to find footing in each of the solar industry’s last three boom-and-bust cycles. Yet, despite the merits of his pioneering technology, the energy establishment has shown only fleeting interest.

At 98, Hay is making what he knows will be his final push.

The retired chemist promotes his cause by funding research and vents his frustration in letters, e-mails, phone messages to pretty much anyone who will listen, and on his own Web site, www.2and50needles.com.

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