Energy & Power

The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.

A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.

Demonstration electrodeless selenium and sulfur bulb powered by microwave energy. Selenium is predominate.
Description (Brief)
Demonstration electrodeless selenium and sulfur bulb powered by microwave energy. Selenium is predominate.
date made
1996
maker
Fusion Lighting, Inc.
ID Number
1996.0359.05
catalog number
1996.0359.05
accession number
1996.0359
A major hurdle that makers of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have faced stems from the unusual shapes of the lamps, as compared to traditional incandescent lamps. Consumers have grown used to what light bulbs "are supposed" to look like.
Description
A major hurdle that makers of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have faced stems from the unusual shapes of the lamps, as compared to traditional incandescent lamps. Consumers have grown used to what light bulbs "are supposed" to look like. Many have rejected CFLs for that reason despite the potential cost savings.
As lamp makers refined their understanding of the new product, designs were introduced to meet consumers' preferences for less-intrusive styles. Duro-Test developed a series of five modular CFLs around 1996, including this "Duro-Brite" unit that has a removable glass globe covering the twin-tube lamp. Another unit in the collection sports a removable glass reflector. The base-units contain the lamp's ballast and starter, and the tube assemblies themselves are interchangeable.
This unit is a modular CFL with three components: a tube assembly, an adapter, and a glass cover.
Lamp characteristics: Tube assembly is a twin-tube unit mounted on a plastic base. The adapter has a medium-screw base-shell with an insulator that is part of the plastic skirt housing the ballast. A G23 socket is on top for the tube assembly, and key-slots are molded around the edge to attach the cover. Cover is a G-shaped, clear-glass envelope with aluminum collar at bottom. There are stamped protrusions on the inside of the collar to mount the cover onto the adapter. Electrical rating is 13 watts.
date made
ca. 1996
Date made
ca 1996
manufacturer
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.11
catalog number
1997.0062.11
accession number
1997.0062
Production low pressure sodium (LPS) lamp in original package. LPS lamps are the most energy-efficient lamps sold.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production low pressure sodium (LPS) lamp in original package. LPS lamps are the most energy-efficient lamps sold.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1996
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.05
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.05
Companies began selling solar-powered toys for fun and education in the early 1960s. This kit features an inexpensive solar cell that can operate either in sunlight or under artificial light to perform a variety of tasks such as running a small fan.
Description (Brief)
Companies began selling solar-powered toys for fun and education in the early 1960s. This kit features an inexpensive solar cell that can operate either in sunlight or under artificial light to perform a variety of tasks such as running a small fan. Science educator Bill Nye licensed several solar-powered toys like this unit. A model helicopter and a model biplane are also in the Smithsonian collections.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
ID Number
2016.0178.01
accession number
2016.0178
catalog number
2016.0178.01
This fluorescent lamp was made with only one-half of the tube coated as a demonstration.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This fluorescent lamp was made with only one-half of the tube coated as a demonstration.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.42
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.42
New lighting inventions occasionally appear from unexpected directions. The development of this microwave-powered lamp provides a case in point.
Description
New lighting inventions occasionally appear from unexpected directions. The development of this microwave-powered lamp provides a case in point. In 1990 Fusion Systems was a small company with a successful, highly specialized product, an innovative ultraviolet (UV) industrial lighting system powered by microwaves.
Discharge lamps typically use electrodes to support an electric arc. Tungsten electrodes are most common, so materials that might erode tungsten can't be used in the lamp and care must be taken to not melt the electrodes. Fusion's lamp side-stepped this problem by eliminating electrodes entirely. Microwave energy from an external source energized the lamp. This opened the way for experiments with non-traditional materials, including sulfur.
During the 1980s engineer Michael Ury, physicist Charles Wood, and their colleagues experimented several times with adapting their UV system to produce visible light without success. In 1990, they tried placing sulfur in a spherical bulb instead of a linear tube. Sulfur could give a good quality light, but did not work well in the linear tube. Other elements only gave marginal results in the spherical bulb. But when they tested sulfur in the spherical lamp they found what they hoped for: lots of good visible light with little invisible UV or infrared rays.
They began setting up "crude" lamps like this one (one of the first ten according to Ury) in order to learn more about the new light source. In the mid-1990s Fusion began trying to sell their sulfur bulbs with limited success. The lamp rotated at 20,000 rpm so that the temperature stayed even over the surface, and a fan was needed for cooling. The fan and spin motor made noise and reduced energy efficiency of the total system. Then they found that the bulbs lasted longer than the magnetrons used to generate the microwaves that powered them. Finding inexpensive magnetrons proved too difficult, and the company stopped selling the product in 2002.
Lamp characteristics: A quartz stem with notch near the bottom serves as the base. The notch locks the lamp into its fixture. The sphere has an argon gas filling, and the yellow material is sulfur condensed on the inner lamp wall. The pattern of condensation indicates lamp was burned base-down. Tipless, G-shaped quartz envelope.
Date made
ca 1990
date made
ca. 1990
maker
Ury, Michael G.
ID Number
1992.0467.01
catalog number
1992.0467.01
accession number
1992.0467
Base unit for "Spiralux" compact fluorescent lamp houses the electronics module needed to operate the lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Base unit for "Spiralux" compact fluorescent lamp houses the electronics module needed to operate the lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1996
maker
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.12
catalog number
1997.0062.12
accession number
1997.0062
Experimental linear fluorescent lamp with rare-earth / aluminate phosphors and new small electrodes.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental linear fluorescent lamp with rare-earth / aluminate phosphors and new small electrodes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1995
Maker
Philips Lighting BV
ID Number
1996.0166.02
catalog number
1996.0166.02
accession number
1996.0166
"IQ Back-Up" incandescent lamp with a second filament that lights (at a low level) when the main filament fails.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
"IQ Back-Up" incandescent lamp with a second filament that lights (at a low level) when the main filament fails.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1995
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.13
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.13
Tungsten halogen floodlamp in original package. This lamp replaces an ordinary incandescent floodlamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Tungsten halogen floodlamp in original package. This lamp replaces an ordinary incandescent floodlamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1994
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.22
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.22
"MiniCirc" fluorescent lamp. Lamp is designed to replace an incandescent lamp in a table fixture.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
"MiniCirc" fluorescent lamp. Lamp is designed to replace an incandescent lamp in a table fixture.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
maker
Lights of America
ID Number
1997.0389.39
catalog number
1997.0389.39
accession number
1997.0389
Demonstration electrodeless sulfur bulb powered by microwave energy.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Demonstration electrodeless sulfur bulb powered by microwave energy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1996
maker
Fusion Lighting, Inc.
ID Number
1996.0359.07
catalog number
1996.0359.07
accession number
1996.0359
Production model PLG41E2 compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 60 watt incandescent lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production model PLG41E2 compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 60 watt incandescent lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1992
maker
General Electric Lighting Company
ID Number
1996.0357.04
accession number
1996.0357
catalog number
1996.0357.04
When most people think of electric lighting, they think of ordinary lamps used for lighting rooms or shops. But many types of lamps are made for use in highly specialized applications. One example is a successful product made by Fusion Systems.
Description
When most people think of electric lighting, they think of ordinary lamps used for lighting rooms or shops. But many types of lamps are made for use in highly specialized applications. One example is a successful product made by Fusion Systems. Founded by four scientists and an engineer, the company markets an ultraviolet (UV) lighting system powered by microwaves. Introduced in 1976, the system found a market in industrial processing as a fast, efficient way to cure inks. A major brewery, for example, purchased the system for applying labels to beer cans and quickly curing their inks while the bottles went down the production line. U.S. patents issued for this lighting system include 3872349, 4042850 and 4208587.
The lamp seen here, referred to as a "TEM lamp" is a typical production unit. As in a fluorescent lamp, this lamp makes ultraviolet light by energizing mercury vapor. Fluorescents and other conventional lamps pass an electric current between two electrodes to energize the mercury. But Fusion's lamp has no electrodes. Instead the lamp is placed in a specially made fixture similar in principle to a household microwave oven. The microwaves energize the mercury vapor directly. A small dose of metal halides is also energized in the lamp. The choice of metal halides allows specific wavelengths of light to be produced to meet different needs.
Profits made from the production of this industrial lamp were used by the company to support research and development of a microwave-powered lamp that made visible light. Instead of mercury that lamp used sulfur. However this sulfur lamp did not sell well when introduced in the mid-1990s.
Lamp characteristics: Clear quartz tube containing a metal-halide pellet and a drop of mercury. No electrodes. The air-cooled tube is radiated by microwaves and produces ultraviolet light.
date made
ca. 1996
Date made
ca 1996
maker
Fusion Lighting, Inc.
ID Number
1996.0359.03
catalog number
1996.0359.03
accession number
1996.0359
"EarthLight Universal" compact fluorescent lamp in original package. Rated at 60 watts.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
"EarthLight Universal" compact fluorescent lamp in original package. Rated at 60 watts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1996
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.31
catalog number
1997.0389.31
accession number
1997.0389
Production model SL*18/27 compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 60 watt incandescent lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production model SL*18/27 compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 60 watt incandescent lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
maker
Philips Lighting Co.
ID Number
1996.0357.03
accession number
1996.0357
catalog number
1996.0357.03
Production "Wattsaver-Argo" reflector lamp rated at 64 watts. Incandescent lamp designed to aid plant growth.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production "Wattsaver-Argo" reflector lamp rated at 64 watts. Incandescent lamp designed to aid plant growth.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1994
maker
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.08
catalog number
1997.0062.08
accession number
1997.0062
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1995
maker
Philips Lighting BV
ID Number
1997.0389.01
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.01
Production model SLS20 "Earth Light" compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 75 watt incandescent lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production model SLS20 "Earth Light" compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 75 watt incandescent lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1993
maker
Philips Lighting Co.
ID Number
1996.0357.02
accession number
1996.0357
catalog number
1996.0357.02
Production rough-service incandescent lamp. Lamp is wrapped in fiberglass for strength and light diffusion.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production rough-service incandescent lamp. Lamp is wrapped in fiberglass for strength and light diffusion.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1994
maker
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.02
catalog number
1997.0062.02
accession number
1997.0062
Two 4-packs of "Soft White" incandescent lamps and one "IQ Auto-Off" lamp wrapped together. Promotional package.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Two 4-packs of "Soft White" incandescent lamps and one "IQ Auto-Off" lamp wrapped together. Promotional package.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1995
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.17
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.17
Demonstration electrodeless selenium bulb powered by microwave energy.
Description (Brief)
Demonstration electrodeless selenium bulb powered by microwave energy.
date made
1996
maker
Fusion Lighting, Inc.
ID Number
1996.0359.09
catalog number
1996.0359.09
accession number
1996.0359
"IQ Auto-Off" incandescent lamp with a computer chip in the base that turns the lamp off after 30 minutes.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
"IQ Auto-Off" incandescent lamp with a computer chip in the base that turns the lamp off after 30 minutes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1995
maker
Philips Lighting Company
Beacon Light Products, Inc.
ID Number
1997.0389.12
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.12
Sample of halophosphor powder used in fluorescent lamps. Invented in 1942 and replaced by rare earth phosphors.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Sample of halophosphor powder used in fluorescent lamps. Invented in 1942 and replaced by rare earth phosphors.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1995
Maker
Philips Lighting BV
ID Number
1996.0166.04
catalog number
1996.0166.04
accession number
1996.0166

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