A Little History Behind Solar Power

Legend claims that Archimedes, the inventor and engineer, used polished shields to concentrate sunlight on invading Roman fleets to repel them from Syracuse. The Ancient Romans and Greeks took this to another level by taking advantage of passive solar design- the use of architecture to take advantage of sunlight- and built their houses facing south. The Greek philosopher Socrates stated, “In houses that looked toward the south, the sun penetrates the portico in winter.”

In the 19th century, solar energy received attention from many scientists. In 1839, the French physicist, Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel first observed the photovoltaic effect - the creation of an electric current in a material using light. Many used large cone-shaped collectors to boil ammonia and solar energy powered many of England and France’s colony operations in Africa and East Asia.

It was not until the 20th century that solar energy began to drastically evolve into the solar panels we have today.  In 1953, Bell Laboratories scientist Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin, and Calvin Fuller developed the first silicon solar cell capable of generating electric currents. In 1973, the price of oil doubled and acted as an impetus to finding means of reducing solar costs. By the 1990’s, the price of solar dropped tremendously. Currently, PV markets are growing at an unprecedented rate.