Subscribe To This Site
Solar Power HistoryA Brief History of Solar PowerSolar power history began at the dawn of time when the earliest cave dwellers benefited from the sun's heat during daytime hours. Eventually, people learned how to direct the sun's rays to provide increased warmth and even to focus them for starting fires. But, it took thousands of years before scientists and engineers began to understand and harness solar power. The First Solar CollectorWhile experimenting with solar radiation in 1767, the Swiss physicist Horace-Benedict de Saussure (1740-1799) constructed the first known solar collector, an insulated oven-like box with three layers of glass to trap out the outgoing thermal radiation. After registering oven temperatures up to 230°F at various locations in the Alps, he proved that the external air temperature had no significant effect on the trapped thermal energy.The Photovoltaic Effect
The year 1839 became an important date in the history of solar energy when a French experimental physicist named Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel (1820-1891) discovered that ordinary sunlight shining onto an electrolytic cell produces measurable electrical current.Other scientists, including Albert Einstein, later built upon Becquerel's discovery of the "photovoltaic effect" -- the basic physical process through which a solar cell converts the sun's rays into solar electrical power. The First Solar CellAmerican inventor Charles Fritts developed a crude solar cell using selenium on a thin layer of gold as early as 1883. The device he formed gave less than 1% efficiency, but it opened the door to further refinements and immense future possibilities.The Photoelectric Effect
Although physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) is best remembered for his Theory of Relativity, he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize In Physics, in the words of the Nobel Foundation, "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."Einstein's 1905 paper on the "photoelectric effect" opened the door to the eventual practical use of Becquerel's "photovoltaic effect" for producing solar photovoltaic energy in today's solar cells. As Becquerel first discovered, when sunlight strikes certain materials, electrons are knocked free from their associated atoms. These moving electrons create a current that flows through the material to provide electrical power. Photo of Einstein by Ferdinand Schmutzer (1870-1928) The First Silicon Solar CellHowever, in the course of solar energy history, it wasn't until 1954 when Bell Labs invented the first modern silicon solar cell with a 6% efficiency that the solar power industry began to come of age. Since that first photovoltaic cell (PV cell), there have been never-ending improvements in efficiency and new adaptations made, resulting in lower manufacturing costs for PV cells.Solar Power History Is Still Being WrittenThe uses for PV cells are near endless and now include millions of solar powered highway lights, traffic signs, electric fences to contain livestock, lawn lights, battery chargers, calculators, attic fans, and solar power sources for recreational vehicles, among a few.Solar powered homes have been a reality for decades. PV panels that generate electrical power and solar collectors that heat water and/or supply warmth are now installed in thousands of homes. They not only ensure a clean form of energy, but help the homeowners save money too. Solar power history is still being written as more efficient home solar power systems and solar powered appliances continue to be invented. The price of non-sustainable energy continues to rise and the cost of solar power continues to decrease, making solar power a benefit for us all. TOP of Solar Power History RETURN to Solar Power Facts HOME to Solar Power |
Welcome To My Website
My name is Don, and my goal with this site is to introduce solar power as the best available option for alternative, renewable energy.
The solar information on this site is freely given to assist you in your journey to an affordable green energy future.
Solar Power Ontario
Heiko Liebethal, Flagstone CEO
If you live in Ontario, Canada, and qualify for the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) microFIT program, you could sell all the electrical power that your solar panels produce back to the OPA, and they will pay you up to 54.9 cents per kWh. Guaranteed.
Arrange for your FREE Solar Site Evaluation today. Don't miss out!
Flagstone Solar Power Peterborough, Ontario
Resources
