Solar energy comes from our planet: the sun. Humans have been using solar energy in one form or another since the dawn of civilization, and thanks to photovoltaic technology, solar energy are becoming one of the most important and reliable sources of energy every year.
The Sun, the largest star in our solar system, is the source of energy for all life on Earth.
Mankind has long been searching for ways and technologies to harness this energy. This is still the case today.
The aim of this article is to summarize the history and the evaluation of technology since man's first use of solar energy.
The Origins of Solar Energy
The origins of solar energy go back to the birth of the Sun some 4.57 billion years ago.
All life on Earth, including human life, was created from this energy and is still with us.
The Sun is about 150 million kilometres away from the Earth, has a mass 332 900 times that of the Earth and is composed mainly of hydrogen.
This element powers the centre of the star, where nuclear fusion occurs between the atoms at high pressure, giving rise to helium atoms and energy.
This energy is transferred from inside the Sun to the surface (the photosphere) and from there in all directions.
The photon - the fundamental particle of light that carries energy through space to our planet - was first observed by Albert Einstein in 1905, but was not named until 1926.
A photon travelling at 300 000 kilometres per second takes about eight minutes to reach the Earth.
Scientific estimates suggest that the Sun will remain in its present form for more than 5 billion years. Then it will run out of hydrogen and become a red giant, a star so big that it will swallow the Earth.
The First Use of Solar Energy
Theoretically, there is historical evidence that humans have been using solar energy since the 7th century BC, when they used glass materials, such as magnifying glasses, to illuminate sunlight and light fires.
The Romans and Greeks were using solar energy as early as the 3rd century BC. The Romans and Greeks used "burning mirrors" for the same purpose in religious ceremonies, and the Chinese used them in the 20th century BC.
The greenhouse is an ancient invention still in use today, with large windows directing sunlight to a particular spot.
Some of the most famous Roman baths, especially those facing south, were called solariums.
By 1200, the Romans were using solar energy in the same way. Our Anasazi ancestors in North America lived on the southern cliffs in winter to take advantage of the sun's heat.
Later, in the 18th century, scientists were able to use sunlight to cook on portable cookers over long distances and to build solar-powered steamships.
So we can see that solar energy was used in many different ways and was widespread in civilizations before the spread of modern technology.
The Current State of Solar Energy
There are different ways and technologies to generate and process solar energy, which can be divided into passive and active energy, as mentioned above.
Active technologies are those that use mechanical or electrical devices to amplify or convert the supplied energy into other forms of energy, such as electricity.
Examples of active solar technologies are solar heating systems, photovoltaic systems and solar concentrators for thermal power plants.
Passive solar technologies are those that use the sun's rays directly, without converting or processing them.
These include photovoltaic and bioclimatic buildings, which make efficient use of sunlight.
The two solar energy technologies currently most widely used by consumers are:
Thermal Energy
Solar thermal is an active technology that captures, stores and uses solar heat instead of generating electricity.
In solar thermal systems, which are common in most countries, solar panels are installed on the roof to capture thermal energy (heat) from the sun.
The energy is transferred from the collector to a tank, called a water heater, which is used to heat the water in the tank until it is needed.
Solar heating systems are similar to photovoltaic systems, but should not be confused with photovoltaic systems, which are designed to generate electricity.
Photovoltaic Energy
Solar thermal energy is the production of electricity directly from solar radiation.
Solar panels generate electricity by collecting incident and diffuse light, i.e. light that falls directly on them and the surrounding environment.
This allows them to generate electricity even on cloudy or rainy days, but the amount of light depends on the efficiency of the panel.
Photovoltaic panels consist of a series of solar modules, which are the basic unit of electricity generation technology, made of semiconductor materials.
Today, millions of homes and businesses rely entirely on solar energy.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), solar energy is the fastest growing renewable energy technology, with 94 gigawatts (GW) of new installed capacity in 2018.
Solar energy is the world's third-largest renewable energy technology (486 GW), after hydro (1 172 GW) and wind (564 GW).
The rapid growth reflects the many benefits the technology offers consumers, particularly savings of up to 95% on energy bills.
A Brief History of Solar Panels
The story begins in 1839 when the young French physicist Edmond Becquerel observed and discovered the photoelectric effect, in which a substance produces voltage or current under the influence of electromagnetic waves.
Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his explanation of the photoelectric phenomenon and his understanding of how light produces electricity.
In 1883, New York inventor Charles Fritz developed the first solar cell using a thin layer of gold and selenium, marking the beginning of solar cell technology.
Interestingly, the following year Thomas Edison brought the world's first commercial coal-fired power station into operation.
Fritz claimed that his invention would provide "a very efficient direct current". However, the conversion efficiency of the coal-fired power plant was no higher than 2%.
Today, solar panels have an efficiency of 15-20%.
The so-called solar cell technology is named after Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist and chemist who is considered a pioneer in the field of electricity and energy.
The terms "solar cells" and "solar energy" are often confused because they sound very similar. In this article, we explain the difference between the two terms.
In 1954, American scientists at Bell Laboratories developed the first organic silicon battery, which was more efficient than selenium batteries, with an efficiency of 6%.
Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008.
The problem with this invention, however, is that it is very expensive. Silicon cells are expensive to make and solar cells made from them are even more expensive.
In the 1970s and 1980s, solar energy boomed in the US because of the energy crisis.
Since then, the price of this technology has fallen on the world market over the years.
The Future of Solar Energy
Today, the focus of technology is on improving efficiency, as in the case of the Pervos kit cell, which promises much higher efficiency than silicon-based cells.
But there are also aesthetic innovations, such as Tesla's solar cells, which aim to make rectangular solar cells better and more beautiful.
Another trend in this area is the use of photovoltaic technology in buildings. Flexible or fixed solar panels are mounted directly into structures, such as car sunshades.
Solar technology has come a long way, but these innovations show that it is only just beginning.
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