By Theresa Ficazzola
Solar technology continues to evolve, allowing more homes and businesses to capitalize on the sun’s enormous energy to generate power.
But did you ever wonder how solar power got its start?
Ancient Civilizations
While solar “power” wasn’t invented until modern times, many ancient civilizations utilized the sun to their benefit. After studying the path of the sun during each season of the year, many groups determined that the most sunshine and warmth they could exploit from the sun came from
the south.
As far back as the 7th Century BC (before Christ was born), Greeks and Romans used pieces of glass and mirrors to reflect the sun’s rays to make fire.
Then much later in the 1st to 4th Centuries AD (after the life of Christ), Romans built their famous bath houses facing south. This enabled them to capture the sun for the maximum number of hours in a day. This meant the baths could remain open for a longer period of time because they had light and the sun’s warmth kept their guests from getting too cold.
In North America, ancestors of the Pueblo people carved their homes into mountains facing south. These cliff dwellings were then able to capture the winter sun for as many hours a day as they could when they needed heat and light the most.
Solar Experiments
Experiments related to tapping the sun’s rays to provide power didn’t begin until 1767 when Swiss scientist Horace de Saussure created the world’s first solar collector. Throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s, numerous scientists, mathematicians, and inventors from around the world experimented with solar thermal power.
The impetus for all this experimentation was simple: these visionaries believed that an additional source of power was needed because they feared the world’s coal reserves would one day be wiped out with nothing to take its place.
In 1860, August Mouchet created the first solar powered steam engine. Not only was he able to collect the energy from the sun, he was able to use it to power a small engine.
And believe it or not, in 1905 Albert Einstein published an additional paper alongside his famous theory of relativity on the photoelectric effect. In 1921 Einstein won the Nobel Prize for both his theories, including the photoelectric effect, which involved utilizing the sun for power.
Solar Takes Off
In the 1950’s things really took off for the solar industry. Bell Labs created the first solar cells and the first solar water heated office building was built. Space travel also benefitted from the energy that was generated from the solar cells installed on its space ships and satellites.
The oil crisis in the 1970’s once again accelerated the need for an alternative fuel source. Fossil fuels, especially coal, were polluting the air. And gasoline was becoming a problem—the US was relying very heavily on the Middle East for this precious commodity. The Oil Embargo (from October 1973 to March 1974) limited the supply of oil being sent to the US, among other countries, raising the price from $3 a barrel to nearly $12 a barrel.
The US Department of Energy launched the Solar Energy Research Institute in 1970 dedicated to researching how to generate power from the sun; however, the high cost of any type of solar powered device still made it difficult for the average person to take advantage of it—until Dr. Elliot Berman and Exxon Corporation produced a less costly solar cell.
Things Get Heated Up
For the next 40 years, various solar powered facilities and machines were introduced, including a solar powered plane and car. Several large scale solar thermal facilities were built in California to take advantage of the good weather and abundant amounts of sunlight.
The very first stand-alone solar powered home was completed in the Hudson River Valley of New York in 1983 and Pacific Gas & Electric rolled out the first grid- supported PV system in Kerman, California in 1993. These milestones paved the way for the modern day solar power systems we have today.
Solar Today
Now the price of solar power is much more affordable. As a result, residential homes, businesses and large corporations are all utilizing the enormous power of the sun to generate their own electricity, save money and reduce our dependence on non-renewable energy sources such as coal and gas.
Why not you? To find out if solar power is a viable alternative for you, let the professionals at SI Solar complete a free, no cost assessment of your home. Just give us a call at 844-747-6527. You may be pleasantly surprised by how much money you can save on your costly electric bills.
