The History of Solar Energy

As the cost of energy increases, more and more people are looking for alternative energy sources.

One very popular and never-ending source of energy comes from our sun. All we have to do is simply harness its power. This concept is not new; in fact, solar energy has a very long and interesting history. The following is a brief summary of the history of solar power.

To start, let’s go back to 1876 when William Grylls Adams and a student by the name of Richard Day, discovered that when they exposed selenium to light, it produced electricity. Their discovery proved that light could be converted into electricity, without heat or with the use of moving parts.

In 1953, the silicon solar cell as discovered by Calvin Fuller, Gerald Pearson, and Daryl Chapin, employees of Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Their solar cell could produced enough electricity to power small electrical devices. The New York Times described this discovery in an article published on April 26, 1954 as, "the beginning of a new era, leading eventually to the realization of harnessing the almost limitless energy of the sun for the uses of civilization."

By the year 1956, the first solar cells were commercially available. However, the price of these first solar cells was too expensive for the common person, costing $300 for a 1-watt solar cell.

During the space race of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s between the USA and Soviet Union solar cells were used to power satellites. By the late 1960’s, solar power had become the standard for powering space satellites.

During the early 1970’s, an in expensive method of manufacturing solar cells was discovered. This discovery, which was spearheaded by Exxon, reduced the price from $100 per watt to approximately $20 per watt. The reason for Exxon’s leading the research was that many offshore oilrigs used the solar cells to power the warning lights on the top of the rigs.

From the 1970's through the 1990’s, solar cells underwent several changes in the usage, from powering calculators to railroad crossings, and even homes in remote places. To expand telecommunications capabilities, Australia used solar cells in their microwave towers. Even in remote areas of the world where line fed electricity is not an option, solar power is used to bring water to the soil.

Today solar cells are in a wide variety of places, including solar powered cars, buses, and even in an experimental solar powered aircraft. Recently developments and technologies have created screen printed solar cells, as well as solar fabric, and even solar shingles, which resemble traditional shingles that can be install on roofs. As new and innovating technologies are still being created, the future of solar energy looks bright—no pun intended.

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