Solar System Facts | History of Solar Energy

Solar System Facts | History of Solar Energy

In this article of solar system facts we will show the history of solar energy, concerning in solar energy starting ideas and the ways of using solar energy.

Introduction to Solar Energy 

Solar Energy is the oldest energy type used in the world as humankind. From 200 years ago, we started using Solar energy to produce electrical energy for our applications. But in fact, it used in the past in a different ways.

History of Solar Energy

Lavoisier's Solar Furnace

In 1774, the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier designed his Solar furnace for use in his experiments. The furnace collected the solar radiation rays using lenses which had a diameter of up to 1.32 meters. These lenses were made from curved sheets of glass with the internal space filled by vinegar. The role of these lenses is to collect sun rays in point. This point will be high density solar rays and will heat up any front body. This furnace was intended to replace the need for fuel in experiments that needed heat.

Alexander Edmond Becquerel

In 1839, Alexander Edmond Becquerel discovered that some materials produce small amount of electric current when exposed to light.

William Grylls Adams

 In 1876, William Grylls Adams and Richard Evans Day, discover a solar cell from a solid material called selenium produces electricity when exposed to light with 1 to 2% efficiency.

Parabolic collector powered a printing press

In 1878, August Mouchot presented his Parabolic collector powered a printing press at the international  Exhibition in Paris.

Charles Edgar Fritts

In 1883, Charles Edgar Fritts, an American scientist, constructed the first real solar module by coating a wide plate of copper with selenium and then topped it with an extremely thin semi-transparent layer of gold leaf. Fritts reported that the module produced a current that is continuous, constant, and of considerable force. The current was responsive to not only sunlight, but to dim daylight and even candle light.

Albert Einstein

In 1905, Albert Einstein published the first paper which explained The Photovoltaic Effect. He suggested that the amount of power that light quanta carry varies according to the wavelength of light. his novel description of light combined with the discovery of electron and the rash of research into its behavior, all happening at the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth, provided photoelectricity with a scientific framework it had previously lacked. Theory could now explain the phenomenon in terms understandable to science.

First Solar-Generating Plant Located in Egypt

In 1913, Frank Shuman, a US inventor from Philadelphia set up the First solar-generating plant in the world in Egypt at Maadi. It was consisted of five 60-meter long parabolic troughs to concentrate the rays onto five matte-black boilers, which then produced sufficient steam to pump almost 23,000 liters of water per minute. Shuman's plant successfully irrigated agricultural land alongside the Nile for two years.

First Solar Cell Invention

In 1954, Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, a slightly modified wafer of silicon, called a "solar cell", that converted sunlight directly into electrical energy was unveiled. The solar cell was an outgrowth of transistor research. It worked at an efficiency of just 6%, which was comparable to the performance of a typical gasoline engine at the time.

First available Solar Module

In 1956, the first solar modules were available commercially. The cost was very high compared with today prices. It was $300 per one watt solar module.