What is Solar Power ?

Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either
directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using concentrated solar power, or
a combination. Concentrated solar power systems
use lenses or mirrorsand tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into
a small beam. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using
the photovoltaic effect.

What is the history of solar energy and when were solar panels
invented?

Though solar energy has found a dynamic and established role in today’s clean
energy economy, there’s a long history behind photovoltaics (PV) that brought
the concept of solar energy to fruition. With the way the cost of solar has
plummeted in the past decade, it’s easy to forget that going solar had a
completely different meaning even just 15 years ago. Let’s go back a few
centuries to the origins of solar PV and explore the history of solar energy and
silicon solar technology.

When was solar energy first used?

In theory, solar energy was used by humans as early as 7th century B.C. when
history tells us that humans used sunlight to light fires with magnifying glass
materials. Later, in 3rd century B.C., the Greeks and Romans were known to
harness solar power with mirrors to light torches for religious ceremonies.
These mirrors became a normalized tool referred to as “burning mirrors.”
Chinese civilization documented the use of mirrors for the same purpose later
in 20 A.D.
Another early use for solar energy that is still popular today was the concept of
“sunrooms” in buildings. These sunrooms used massive windows to direct
sunlight into one concentrated area. Some of the iconic Roman bathhouses,
typically those situated on the south-facing side of buildings, were sunrooms.
Later in the 1200s A.D., ancestors to the Pueblo Native Americans known as
the Anasazi situated themselves in south-facing abodes on cliffs to capture the
sun’s warmth during cold winter months.

In the late 1700s and 1800s, researchers and scientists had success using
sunlight to power ovens for long voyages. They also harnessed the power of
the sun to produce solar-powered steamboats. Ultimately, it’s clear that even
thousands of years before the era of solar panels, the concept of manipulating
the power of the sun was a common practice.

When were solar panels invented?

The development of solar panel technology was an iterative one that took a
number of contributions from various scientists. Naturally, there is some
debate around when exactly they were created and who should be credited for
the invention. Some people credit the invention of the solar cell to French
scientist Edmond Becquerel, who determined light could increase electricity
generation when two metal electrodes were placed into a conducting solution.
This breakthrough, defined as the “photovoltaic effect,” was influential in later
PV developments with the element selenium.

In 1873, Willoughby Smith discovered that selenium had photoconductive

potential, leading to William Grylls Adams’ and Richard Evans Day’s 1876
discovery that selenium creates electricity when exposed to sunlight. A few
years later in 1883, Charles Fritts actually produced the first solar cells made
from selenium wafers – the reason some historians credit Fritts with the actual
invention of solar cells.

However, solar cells as we know them today are made with silicon, not
selenium. Therefore, some consider the true invention of solar panels to be
tied to Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson’s creation of the silicon
photovoltaic (PV) cell at Bell Labs in 1954.

Many argue that this event marks the true invention of PV technology because
it was the first instance of a solar technology that could actually power an
electric device for several hours of a day. The first ever silicon solar cell could
convert sunlight at four percent efficiency, less than a quarter of what modern
cells are capable of.

HOW DO SOLAR PANELS WORK?

A solar panel “works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock

electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity,” according to Live
Science. That’s a technical way of saying that the panel’s photovoltaic cells
convert the energy in sunlight to electricity (specifically, direct current (DC)).
This DC electricity is then converted to alternating current (AC) by an inverter.

AC is the type of electrical current you typically use when you plug anything
into a residential wall socket. If you have solar on your roof, the system’s
electrical panel sends power to your lights and appliances.

DO SOLAR PANELS WORK ON CLOUDY, RAINY, OR COLD DAYS?

Are clouds and rain ideal for solar panels? Of course not. They are most
effective in direct sunlight. But solar panels can still generate power when the
sun is blocked by clouds – more than enough, in fact, to remain a viable source
of electricity. Take Germany, for example. It’s not particularly warm or sunny,
but is nevertheless a world leader in solar energy.
As for winter, there’s some even better news: Solar panels are powered by
light, not heat, and because of the way the technology works, they’re just as
effective — if not more effective — in cooler temperatures as in hot ones.

A Bright Future

In 2016, solar became the fastest growing source of energy in the US, and the
biggest employer of all energy industries, with around 370,000 employees,
compared to 187,000 in all fossil fuels combined, according to the US
Department of Labor. The price of solar fell 165 percent from 1975 to 2015, as
the megawatts installed globally surged from two to 65,000 in the same
period, according to a report by Bloomberg and the Earth Policy Institute.

Given the harsh realities of the climate crisis, the world’s impending approach
to peak coal and peak oil, and the rapid adoption of solar worldwide, Kennedy
says the future looks very bright indeed for solar power, and he expects more
solar innovations to
keep coming.

“The US pioneered something world-changing, literally,” says Kennedy.

“Photovoltaics, invented by Bell Labs in 1954, already have and are going to
continue to completely transform civilization until we become a completely
solar-powered society.”