NBS embarked on a program of developing standard test
methods
for solar energy collectors and thermal storage systems
at the request
of the Energy Research and Development Administration
(ERDA) in 1975.
National Bureau of Standards engineer
John Jenkins evaluated the proposed test
procedures at a former NIKE Missile site near
the NBS campus. The site offered an ideal test
location since the solar collectors and storage
units could be stored in an underground bunker
where the missiles used to be and then elevated
to be tested in the sunlight. In this photograph,
an air-heating solar collector array was tested
-from NIST Photographic Collection,
Solar Energy Research
