Solar Energy History and Its Importance

The Hindu and Greek mythologies are rich with the occasions and events of sun’s worship. The Greeks christen Sun as Apollo and Helios while the Indians worshipped him as a creator who circles the universe on his chariot driven by ten horses.

Solar energy history in mythology is rich in legends and can be found in various scriptures. However, the main hidden fact is the importance of sun and its energy in the lives of people from early times. Such was the supremacy of sun that the hymns dedicated to sun are present in Rig Veda, which is considered to be the first written document by any civilization.

The importance of solar energy history lies in the fact that present conditions are threatening the existence of mankind and we need desperate measures to stop pollution and global warming. The improved standards of living have made us reliable on luxuries, which require power to be driven, and this cycle leaves our planet devastated.

So it has become important to harness the solar energy for power generation as it has the advantage of being eco friendly and renewable source of energy. The wind energy and the biomass are also the different manifestations of solar energy, which can be put to use to solve the energy crises.

According to solar energy history, Edmund Becquerel first published papers on harnessing solar energy which did attract attention but soon faded from the scene as people were interested for minting money during the industrial revolution of 1838. Charles fritz converted solar energy to electricity in 1873 and added a new leaf in the glorious solar energy history. There were many books written and many researches done to make the solar energy economically viable and William Adams book called A Substitute for Fuel in Tropical Countries is considered as one of the first.

Solar energy history in the modern era has seen numerous patrons of solar energy. Aubrey Eneas established the first company The Solar Motor Co and sold the products during 1890s. Henry Willies developed a power station, which was successful in generating power at nights from the solar energy.

Calvin Fuller and his associates discovered a semi conductor in form of silicon, which was later put to use for making a solar panel with very low efficiency. Solar energy history was made richer when a solar cell was made public in 1956.

They are now used in radios and space programmes are more interested in solar energy as it is freely available in space and does not pollute the atmosphere. We all must know the history to grasp the importance of solar energy for our future needs.