![]() ![]() ![]() What is well-known though, is that fledgling fossil fuel companies commonly deployed unscrupulous practices towards their competitors. Other sources suggest that a former investor may have been behind it. ![]() Some at the time accused Cove of staging the kidnapping for publicity, although this would seem out of character, especially since there was no shortage of media attention. I can’t say with certainty if vested interests were behind it. Which seems odd – in the years before the kidnapping, he had developed several iterations of the solar device, improving it each time.Ĭove’s solar panel in 1909. Cove refused and was later released near Bronx Zoo.īut after this incident, his solar business fizzled out. The condition for his release required forgoing his solar patent and shutting down the company. Then, according to a report in The New York Herald on 19 October 1909, Cove was kidnapped. A clean energy future seemed to be there for the taking. The piece went on to speculate how even aeroplanes could be powered by batteries charged by the sun. It noted how cheap solar energy could liberate people from poverty, “bringing them cheap light, heat and power, and freeing the multitude from the constant struggle for bread”. Modern Electric magazine highlighted how “given two days’ sun… will store sufficient electrical energy to light an ordinary house for a week”. By 1909, the idea had gained widespread media attention. Modern Electrics / Hathi TrustĬove’s company, Sun Electric Generator Corporation, based in New York, was capitalised at US$5 million (around US$160 million in today’s money). ![]()
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