The History Of Electricity Production From The Sun

The fact that politicians constantly talk about renewable energy raises our awareness to the fact that we have some ongoing problems. Solar energy is a significant renewable energy and here is an overview of how the technology has developed.

In simple words, solar electricity is nothing more than harnessed sun energy. It can be used for electricity production through panels, home heating, and also to power laptops and other electronic devices.

Historically, sunlight has been used by mankind to produce heat ever since we first built structures. Over time, we have learned how to orient certain structures to absorb the heat of the sun and store it for use. Certain structures built by the early Greeks and Egyptians made use of these techniques.

Sunlight being used to provide electricity, however, is a new step of this technology. Nicolas Tesla received a patent for a project related to solar energy in 1901, but at the time he called it radiant energy. He sought a patent for a machine to capture the radiant heat, but nothing much came of the invention.

In 1904, some unknown physicist named Albert Einstein published a paper on the potential electricity production from sunlight. William Coblentz was the first person to receive a patent for a solar cell in 1913, but somehow, the project never got to the point of working efficiently. In 1916, Robert Millikan was the first to produce electricity with the cell. During the next forty years, nobody was able to make much progress because the cells available were unable to convert sunlight into electricity.

In the 1950's, Bell Labs started working with Nasa. He was appointed with the task of creating a solar panel that could power spacecraft after they were launched in orbit. This marked the revolution of the solar industry.

Different areas related to solar were researched by Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller, but this research was independent of any Nasa project. By luck, they meet and exchanged ideas. Neither of them was able to successfully complete their individual ideas, but once they came together, they combined efforts to come up with a very efficient cell to convert sunlight into electricity by using crystallized silicon. The new cell had an efficiency rate of 6% which was much improved from other projects in the past. The Vanguard Spacecraft which was launched in 1958, was powered by solar panels.

Solar technology grew exponentially from that moment on. Solar panels today are roughly 15 percent efficient, but also much smaller than they use to be. Some companies are now even substituting panels for newer, more efficient products. Some of these new products are shingles that look exactly like the old roof shingles. Nanotechnology is also offering amazing possibilities with quantum dots, which are essentially solar panels on the quantum level. It is possible that we will be able to incorporate these dots in different things like paint, for example. If that possibility becomes reality, the paint on walls and buildings could provide heat.

Man has used the power of the sun for heat for a very long time. Only now, however, are we starting to master the technology to turn it into large amounts of free electricity.

We allow you to compare electricity rates Victoria and select the best provider for your energy service.