History of Solar Power: The FACTS
Solar Power History: DISCOVER How Solar Power Came to Be in This Article
It may sound surprising, but solar power, meaning power that can be gained from the sun, has actually been a focus of scientists for some time. The history of solar power is in fact quite rich. In this article we will consider the historical aspects of solar power through the ages.
Mouchout in France created a solar engine in 1860. It was a modest start and worked with solar energy being reflected on to an iron vessel containing water. The effect was multiplied by having a number of reflectors around the vessel. When the water heated it produced steam and the steam pressure then operated a rudimentary steam turbine. This invention was simply the culmination of the realization by many people that the sun could be a source of energy to illuminate their homes and that this energy could also be put to other uses as well.
Mouchout's solar engine was then notably enhanced by inventors such Charles Tellier, John Ericsson, Henry E. Willsie Eneas and Shuman. William Adams one of the inventors who succeeded Mouchout made a version of the solar engine with 72 mirrors or reflectors. This enhancement alone boosted the power output by a factor of three. Yet the problem remained that the coal-fired engines that were available at the time were more convenient and less expensive to use.
Nevertheless, in the Netherlands windmills became more and more popular for pumping water, and in the U.S. the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored increasing use of hydro-electrical power plants. Wind and water power was being encouraged also by a growing realization in the first half of the twentieth century that fossil fuel was in fact limited. People felt more and more that alternative energy sources needed to be explored.
Crude oil had been processed up until this point by feeding it into a fractional column. This process, which was begun in Titusville in Pennsylvania by colonel Edwin Drake, was responsible for creating a number of derivative products from base petroleum to kerosene. Imports of crude oil started when mass production of motorcars in the market in the U.S. caused a demand that outstripped supply. It seemed at that time that there was no limit to the stocks of this energy source which was at that time largely imported from the Arab world in the main controlled by Arab sheikhs. Yet the search for an alternative power source was still present and when the crude oil market was shaken by external wars and internal feuding, then the motivation increased substantially for the possibility of finding once again alternative power sources. Public opinion was starting to sway in that direction.
Scientists in Bell laboratories in 1953 then invented the first silicon solar cell, which was able to produce significant electric current simply by the action of the sun upon it. The scientists, Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller had made the first major advance in solar power generation. There were still however challenges that needed to be addressed both in terms of technical problems and commercial problems.
From this early version the solar photovoltaic markets is now growing at an amazing 30 percent every year. This happy change in circumstances is really due to the initiatives taken by German and Japanese governments concerning the production of PV (photovoltaic) cells. From early and modest starts this phenomenal growth has been behind the production in Japan of hybrid cars that can use solar power as well as conventional fuel. Other positive effects are the growing number of offices and homes in the U.S., which are today being heated using solar energy and solar panels. All this from the early silicon solar cell developed by the scientists in Bell Laboratories, which was initially almost too expensive to produce for the output that was generated.
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. - 20759
It may sound surprising, but solar power, meaning power that can be gained from the sun, has actually been a focus of scientists for some time. The history of solar power is in fact quite rich. In this article we will consider the historical aspects of solar power through the ages.
Mouchout in France created a solar engine in 1860. It was a modest start and worked with solar energy being reflected on to an iron vessel containing water. The effect was multiplied by having a number of reflectors around the vessel. When the water heated it produced steam and the steam pressure then operated a rudimentary steam turbine. This invention was simply the culmination of the realization by many people that the sun could be a source of energy to illuminate their homes and that this energy could also be put to other uses as well.
Mouchout's solar engine was then notably enhanced by inventors such Charles Tellier, John Ericsson, Henry E. Willsie Eneas and Shuman. William Adams one of the inventors who succeeded Mouchout made a version of the solar engine with 72 mirrors or reflectors. This enhancement alone boosted the power output by a factor of three. Yet the problem remained that the coal-fired engines that were available at the time were more convenient and less expensive to use.
Nevertheless, in the Netherlands windmills became more and more popular for pumping water, and in the U.S. the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored increasing use of hydro-electrical power plants. Wind and water power was being encouraged also by a growing realization in the first half of the twentieth century that fossil fuel was in fact limited. People felt more and more that alternative energy sources needed to be explored.
Crude oil had been processed up until this point by feeding it into a fractional column. This process, which was begun in Titusville in Pennsylvania by colonel Edwin Drake, was responsible for creating a number of derivative products from base petroleum to kerosene. Imports of crude oil started when mass production of motorcars in the market in the U.S. caused a demand that outstripped supply. It seemed at that time that there was no limit to the stocks of this energy source which was at that time largely imported from the Arab world in the main controlled by Arab sheikhs. Yet the search for an alternative power source was still present and when the crude oil market was shaken by external wars and internal feuding, then the motivation increased substantially for the possibility of finding once again alternative power sources. Public opinion was starting to sway in that direction.
Scientists in Bell laboratories in 1953 then invented the first silicon solar cell, which was able to produce significant electric current simply by the action of the sun upon it. The scientists, Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller had made the first major advance in solar power generation. There were still however challenges that needed to be addressed both in terms of technical problems and commercial problems.
From this early version the solar photovoltaic markets is now growing at an amazing 30 percent every year. This happy change in circumstances is really due to the initiatives taken by German and Japanese governments concerning the production of PV (photovoltaic) cells. From early and modest starts this phenomenal growth has been behind the production in Japan of hybrid cars that can use solar power as well as conventional fuel. Other positive effects are the growing number of offices and homes in the U.S., which are today being heated using solar energy and solar panels. All this from the early silicon solar cell developed by the scientists in Bell Laboratories, which was initially almost too expensive to produce for the output that was generated.
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. - 20759
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: Homemade Wind Power
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