Harry Zvi Tabor facts for kids
Harry Zvi Tabor (born March 7, 1917 – died December 15, 2015) was an Israeli physicist. He is often called the "father of Israeli solar energy." He helped make Israel's solar energy program well-known around the world.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Harry Zvi Tabor was born in London in 1917. His parents were Charles and Rebecca Tabor. When he was young, he was part of a youth group called Habonim Dror in the UK.
He studied physics and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of London. He also studied at the Hebrew University. Harry Zvi Tabor passed away in Jerusalem in 2015 when he was 98 years old.
Pioneering Solar Energy in Israel
In 1949, Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, invited Tabor to work in Israel. Tabor accepted the offer to join the 'physics and engineering desk' of the Research Council of Israel.
His first big project was to create the National Physical Laboratory of Israel. Tabor believed this was very important for the new country. It would be like the National Physical Laboratory in Britain. Its main goal was to set common standards for measurements. At the time, Israel used many different systems, like British, Ottoman, and metric.
Once the laboratory was set up, Tabor focused on solar energy for research and development.
Developing Solar Water Heaters
Tabor played a key role in creating the solar water heater. Today, about 95 percent of Israeli homes use these heaters. These simple heaters work without pumps. Cold water gets heated in a special panel. The hot water then rises, acting like a "thermosiphon." This design became a standard for solar water heating worldwide. It also helped make solar thermal technology popular in the United States in the 1970s.
Tabor experimented with different coatings for the panels. He wanted to make them absorb as much sunlight as possible. He also wanted them to lose very little of the absorbed heat. This led him to develop a special "black chrome" surface for the copper plates that held the water.
He also worked with the Standards Institute of Israel. They created official testing rules and performance certificates. This meant that solar collectors had to meet certain quality standards before they could be sold.
Small Solar Power Units
Tabor also worked with a French immigrant named Lucien Bronicki. They developed a small solar power unit. This unit used a special engine called an Organic Rankine cycle turbine. It was designed for developing countries that had problems with their power grids. The goal was to make it easy to maintain. It had only one moving part, which was the rotor.
A small test version of this unit was shown at a United Nations conference in Rome in 1961. However, it did not become a commercial success.
Awards and Recognition
- 1975 – Royal Society Energy Award
- 1979 – Inducted into the Solar Hall of Fame
- 1981 – International Solar Energy Society Award
- 1981 – Krupp Foundation Energy Award
- 1994 – Passive Low Energy Architecture International Award
- 1995 – Israeli Knesset Quality of Life Award
- 2014 – Israeli President's Medal of Distinction
See also
- David Faiman
