Item Info

Media Type: Photographic Prints
Source: Automobile Reference Collection
Notes:

 Los Angeles: Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson waves from 1916 Baker equipped with a gadget which uses the sun's rays to charge its batteries. Once this is mass-produced, we can do away with gasoline bills for the family chariot. On roof of auto is a 40 pound tray, 4 feet by 6 1/2 feet with approximately 10,000 silicon cells which absorb the sun's rays and sends them through a wire circuit to the car's batteries. It cost $15,000 to build the panel but the builder, Dr. Charles Escoffery believes it could be mass-produced for $2,000 to $3,000. 

Creation Year: 1916
Creator Name: Telephoto - Photographer