[2] Mouchot was drawn to the idea of finding new alternative energy sources, believing that the coal which fueled the Industrial Revolution would eventually run out.

By August 1866, Mouchot had developed the first parabolic trough solar collector,[3] which was presented to the emperor Napoleon III in Paris.

In 1861 M. Mouchot gave the name of Heliopompe to one of his invention, and in 1865 he had several small engines of this description at work at Tours, Indre-et-Loire.

In September 1871, Mouchot received financial assistance from the General Council of Indre-et-Loire to install an experimental solar generator at the Tours library.

The French government assessed in a report that solar energy was uneconomical, deeming Mouchot's research no longer important and ending his funding.