A brief history in Solar
Energy
We amongst the general community think that solar energy is new
source of power this decades this could not be further from the
truth ! Whilst it's true that advances in solar science are
becoming more widely publicised, the origins of solar
technology go back to ancient times history as
exemplified by the astounding solar city of Priene, built by
Greek colonists 2500 years ago on the southern slopes of Mount
Mycale in Turkey.
Other civilizations, the Chinese, Egyptians, Persians, Incas
and Romans developed high! sophisticated structures and
building codes centered around solar energy. The Romans in
particular, with the hindsight of Greek experience and the
advantage of plate glass glazing took solar architecture to new
limits as displayed in the ruins of their huge
public baths and other civic buildings.
At several points in history, wood, the main fuel
source became extremely scarce. The Romans
even commissioned a fleet of ships called the "Lignati" (
wood ships ), whose sole purpose was to sail around the
Mediterranean plundering forests and woodlands.Apart from the
solar orientation of buildings, the evidence of which is
supported by the ruins, the full extent of the industrial
implementation of solar energy by the ancients is unclear. The
great central library at Alexandria which housed much of the
advanced knowledge of past millennia, was destroyed by
barbarian hordes around 300 A.D.
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We do know however that the Greeks, Chinese and Romans were
well aware of the properties of parabolic concentrating mirrors
and that they used them for smelting metallic ores as well as
military and religious purposes. Archemides is purported to
have used long range burning mirrors to destroy the Roman fleet
at the battle of Syracuse in 212 B.C. There is also evidence to
suggest that the Greeks had some form of solar powered steam
turbine.
Solar energy in the West fell into disuse during the turmoil
of the "Dark Ages" and it was not until 1515 that Leonardo
de Vinci revived the concept of parabolic concentrators for the
production of industrial heat and steam. Leonardos engineering
drawings are the earliest surviving records of such devices.
Problems with the production of large precision mirrors
prevented any meaningful application at the time.
In the 17th and 18th centuries solar heating for horticulture
underwent a "renaissance" and with the French re-discovering
the manufacturing secrets of plate glass, sophisticated
greenhouses sprang up all over Europe as in Roman times,
revolutionizing the production of fruit and vegetables in
colder climates and epitomized by the incredible conservatories
and botanic gardens of Victorian England.
In 1839 Edmund Becquerel discovered the Photo-Voltaic effect
( electricity from sunlight '. but it took another 50 years
before the first solar cells were made by Charles fritts using
discs of Selenium covered with a transparent gold film.
Efficiency was less 1% and of little practical value. At
the same time Augustin Mouchot was experimenting with
thero-electric generators where plates of dissimilar metals (
copper & iron ) are sandwiched together and exposed to
focussed solar heat, producing current.
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Solar History page
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