UTILIZING THE SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES OF THE EASTERN AND HIGH-LATITUDE REGIONS OF THE USSR

A general exploratory article surveys the solar energy potential of the eastern and northern USSR, an area which the author contends is largely ignored in current Soviet solar energy research. He argues that solar power is a reliable substitute for conventional energy generation in locations remote from major energy grids and where demand is too small to warrant large-capacity conventional units. This argument is based largely upon comparison of insolation characteristics between (a) eastern and high-latitude sites in the USSR with (b) a middle-latitude site (presumably Alushta in the Crimea), and upon examination of the experience in other high-latitude areas (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).