Solar Power History: DISCOVER How Solar Power Came to Be in This Article
Solar power is a story that stretches back over centuries. This is often surprising to people who think this is purely a phenomenon that has arisen over the last 50 years or so. In fact generating power from the sun's rays had come to the attention of scientists many years before.
One of the first inventions concerned an iron vessel, which contained water that was heated by the sun. The water then boiled and gave off steam and the steam pressure operated a steam engine. The way that this worked was that reflectors surrounding the iron vessel concentrated the rays of the sun upon the water in the vessel. Mouchout created the first version of this in France in 1860. It was a modest beginning, but signaled the advancement of several developments thereafter.
Many modifications came after that by scientists such as Charles Tellier, John Ericsson, Henry E. Willsie Eneas and Shuman. William Adams working off the machine in France increased the number of mirrors to 72 and managed already in his version to triple the amount of energy produced compared to the first solar engine. However the fundamental problem to be resolved was a commercial one. Generators using coal were far cheaper as well as more convenient in those early days.
The Tennessee Valley Authority started to set the direction however in the first half of the twentieth century by encouraging the use of hydroelectric power plants. In the Netherlands windmills began to be used more and more for pumping water. At the same time many people came to understand that fossil fuel was not a renewable source of energy and that alternative sources would need to be explored.
The search for alternative power continued at the same time that the first crude petroleum extraction and refinery was being done in Pennsylvania. Colonel Edwin Drake invented a process where crude petroleum when introduced into a fractional column could then be processed for a number of derivative products from kerosene to petroleum. With the introduction of the mass produced motorcar by Henry Ford, the local crude oil in the United States was not able to sustain demand, and therefore crude oil started to be imported from other countries such as the Middle East where there seemed to be a limitless amount of this liquid power source controlled at that time by the Arab sheikhs. Feuding as well as external wars then called into question the stability of this power source and therefore motivated many people to search yet again for reasonable alternative power sources. With the realization that it had become important to decrease dependency on crude oil, the mind of the public was ready.
The first silicon solar cell that was able to produce a real electric current simply by sitting in the sun, was developed by Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller. Their work as scientists at the Bell Laboratories in 1953 constituted the first major advance in solar energy cell generation. Their inventions however needed to face and resolve a number of technical and business challenges.
Some of the issues that scientists had to resolve initially involved the expense of producing the solar photovoltaic cells. The cells at the outset cost far too much for an output that was much less than had been expected. The final benefit was being severely impacted and at the same time the process of generating electricity was expensive. Major governmental initiatives in both Japan and Germany then started to change the situation. The production of PV (photovoltaic) cells has since that time reached a phenomenal rate of growth. Japan has already begun to produce hybrid cars that run on both solar power as well as conventional car fuel , while many homes and workplaces in the U.S. are taking advantage of solar panels for heating and other electric requirements. The solar photovoltaic energy market is increasing at a massive 30 percent every year currently.
Solar power should therefore increase in use throughout the world . We can also expect it to become less and less expensive. This is a natural consequence of leveraging a renewable source of energy provided by nature and also has the benefit of reducing pollution. - 20763
Solar power is a story that stretches back over centuries. This is often surprising to people who think this is purely a phenomenon that has arisen over the last 50 years or so. In fact generating power from the sun's rays had come to the attention of scientists many years before.
One of the first inventions concerned an iron vessel, which contained water that was heated by the sun. The water then boiled and gave off steam and the steam pressure operated a steam engine. The way that this worked was that reflectors surrounding the iron vessel concentrated the rays of the sun upon the water in the vessel. Mouchout created the first version of this in France in 1860. It was a modest beginning, but signaled the advancement of several developments thereafter.
Many modifications came after that by scientists such as Charles Tellier, John Ericsson, Henry E. Willsie Eneas and Shuman. William Adams working off the machine in France increased the number of mirrors to 72 and managed already in his version to triple the amount of energy produced compared to the first solar engine. However the fundamental problem to be resolved was a commercial one. Generators using coal were far cheaper as well as more convenient in those early days.
The Tennessee Valley Authority started to set the direction however in the first half of the twentieth century by encouraging the use of hydroelectric power plants. In the Netherlands windmills began to be used more and more for pumping water. At the same time many people came to understand that fossil fuel was not a renewable source of energy and that alternative sources would need to be explored.
The search for alternative power continued at the same time that the first crude petroleum extraction and refinery was being done in Pennsylvania. Colonel Edwin Drake invented a process where crude petroleum when introduced into a fractional column could then be processed for a number of derivative products from kerosene to petroleum. With the introduction of the mass produced motorcar by Henry Ford, the local crude oil in the United States was not able to sustain demand, and therefore crude oil started to be imported from other countries such as the Middle East where there seemed to be a limitless amount of this liquid power source controlled at that time by the Arab sheikhs. Feuding as well as external wars then called into question the stability of this power source and therefore motivated many people to search yet again for reasonable alternative power sources. With the realization that it had become important to decrease dependency on crude oil, the mind of the public was ready.
The first silicon solar cell that was able to produce a real electric current simply by sitting in the sun, was developed by Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller. Their work as scientists at the Bell Laboratories in 1953 constituted the first major advance in solar energy cell generation. Their inventions however needed to face and resolve a number of technical and business challenges.
Some of the issues that scientists had to resolve initially involved the expense of producing the solar photovoltaic cells. The cells at the outset cost far too much for an output that was much less than had been expected. The final benefit was being severely impacted and at the same time the process of generating electricity was expensive. Major governmental initiatives in both Japan and Germany then started to change the situation. The production of PV (photovoltaic) cells has since that time reached a phenomenal rate of growth. Japan has already begun to produce hybrid cars that run on both solar power as well as conventional car fuel , while many homes and workplaces in the U.S. are taking advantage of solar panels for heating and other electric requirements. The solar photovoltaic energy market is increasing at a massive 30 percent every year currently.
Solar power should therefore increase in use throughout the world . We can also expect it to become less and less expensive. This is a natural consequence of leveraging a renewable source of energy provided by nature and also has the benefit of reducing pollution. - 20763
About the Author:
Jim Martin is a researcher, inventor, home energy consultant and author of the best-selling e-book, "Earth 4 Electricity- Renewable Energy Made Easy". To Learn More about Jim Martin's Unique Step By Step Solar and Wind Power System Visit: Earth 4 Electricity. For further information visit: Residential Wind Energy.
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