Solar Power Energy Throughout the Years: A Brief Look into One of the World’s Cleanest Source of Energy

There are a lot of things we can thank the sun for. Apart from the needed light which separates the day from the night, the sun is also a source of heat which makes a good portion of the globe warm enough not to freeze because of the world’s naturally cold climate.
Recently, it was also discovered that sunlight can be a source of energy in a world now dependent on electricity.

Little do we know however is that the power of the sun to give us energy has been of human understanding since far longer than anyone can fathom – back in the days when it was discovered that a good concentration of sunlight through the use of magnifying glass could produce heat that induces fire.

Archimedes was said to have taken advantage of this discovery was put to use on military purposes.

Since then, there have many inventions developed harnessing the power of the sun as its design.

Significant Discoveries in the Field of Solar Energy

There was the first solar-powered oven in 1767 by a Swiss physicist, Horace de Saussure.

Coming from France, a French by name of Edmund Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect in 1839, which laid an early foundation on solar-power research.

Based on the discovery of Willoughby Smith about photoconductivity in the element Selenium in 1873, professor and student William Grylls Adams and Richard Evans Day respectively, discovered that electricity can be produced using light.

Another pioneer in solar-based research appeared in 1883, when Charles Fritts, an American inventor, developed a design that makes solar cells.

Although less popularly known, a genius by name of Albert Einstein, also had a discovery towards light and energy, the photoelectric effect which basically connects the relationship between light and electrons.

Thirteen years since Albert Einstein, a Polish scientist, Jan Czochralski discovered the method by which he could make single-crystal silicon grow. This paved the way for the use of silicon-based cells.

However, it was not until 1954 when the world gazed upon its first photovoltaic or solar cells, thanks to David Chapin, Gerald Pearson, and Calvin Fuller of Bell Labs.

Solar Power Energy at the Present

Nowadays, we are seeing shift among developed nations with regards to the utilization of clean, renewable energies such as that of solar power energy in line with still dominant fossil fuel sources.

Big countries such as China and the US, along with the region of the European Union, have been recorded to be the biggest players in producing renewable energy, including solar-based sources, in their own respective regions.

Based on record, the EU region was seen as the region which makes use of solar power energy the most, majority of which coming from Germany, followed only by China. Comparing both China and Germany, however, in terms of the energy produced using solar energy, Germany still makes more energy from the sun than China does.

While fossil fuels are still an in-demand commodity in the international market as far as the production of electricity is concerned among nations, developed countries such as the mentioned, including nations such as Brazil, Canada, Russia, India, Norway, Japan, and Spain, are now focused on the better utilization of these clean energy sources, one especially is the solar energy.