HISTORY 
Lets rocket
back in time and see what happened...
First Century B.C.
The
Chinese and Greeks found uses in religious ceremonies. According
to Plutarch when the sacred flame of Delphi went out, it could only be
re-lit by a "pure and unpolluted ray from the sun." This was done
using concave mirrors much like how a little boy today would burn a doodle
bug with a magnifying glass, (e-mail
me if you don't know what I'm talking about)
Second Century B.C.
The oldest method of exploitation is through heat. The Romans in their tiring efforts in gathering wood began to place their buildings in such a way as to capture as much light as possible in the winter and as little as possible in the summer. They also began the first uses of greenhouses. Solar energy was so important to them that "sun-right' guarantees were written into their code of law.
Thirteenth - Twentieth Century
13th
Military strategists also gave there best shot at a solar doomsday weapon, but they forgot that it would be rendered useless if they were to be attacked on a cloudy day or if the sun wasn't located behind the attackers backs. (It's funny when you remember that Dr. Edward Teller attempted to similarly persuade Ronald Reagen of this same sort of weaponry)
16th
- Leonardo Da Vinci invented ideas for a large mirror to power a giant dye factory. Many small scale uses began to emerge successfully from this.
- Artisans used solar heat to solders sections of metal and alchemists used them to separate oils from flowers submerged in water.
- The French government even distributed solar ovens to the french legions
In 1839, French physicist Edmund Becquerel first observed the photovoltaic effect, which is the transformation of light into a direct current energy. Later researchers noted the photoconductivity of elements later in the century, such as selenium. W.G. Adams and R.E. Day made the first selenium cell and American inventor Charles Fritts described the first cell made from selenium wafers in 1883.
20th
The
1900's through the 1930's found itself in the first true solar boom.
The wild west of the Americas required large amounts of power to run its
many irrigation, mining, agricultural, and other industries. Solar
power came to be a easy and reliable source and solar water heaters became
common. The discovery of oil and gas however left this boom short
lived. The water heaters hung on to as late as the 1940's but as
power utilities were able to reduce prices they slowly died out.
In spite of this, research continued on the photoelectric effect and photovoltaic
cells. Other elements were noted for the photoelectric conductivity,
and in 1932 Albert Einstein was awarded a Nobel Prize for his research
on the photoelectric effect. The modern form of photovoltaics developed
in 1953 and 1954 when the first solar cells were demonstrated. This
technology has been used to power satellites since 1958 and powered the
first telecommunications satellite - Telstar - launched in 1962.
In the 1970s, photovoltaic cells found their way into commercial and private
ventures. For example, the French used the cells to power educational
television in a remote village in Niger. For the past thirty years,
the NASA Lewis Research Center began installing photovoltaic systems around
the world to power operational energy for lighting, telecommunication,
classroom televisions, medical purposes and a wide array of other projects.
Beginning in the 1980s, photovoltaics began to supplement utility companies
by providing energy to some commercial and residential areas. For
the past twenty years, government, academia, and industry have held a number
of conferences to discuss future uses of photovoltaics, which has become
increasingly cheaper as other forms of energy have become more expensive.
What was the problem?
The major problem was their inability to capture all of the power of the sun. At the time they were only able to harness less than 1 % of the sun's power. That means that of all the sunlight that came upon their devices less than 1% emerged as usable electricity. By the 1960's, despite new materials and technologies this number only rose to about 6%. This allowed them to be cost effective enough to power satellites but not much else. Today's numbers are well above 30% !
Today's technology focuses on trying to keep more energy in the cell. Engineers work hard at ideas that allow them to "trap" the light so more of it may be absorbed. But as you would assume there is a definite trade off between efficiency and cost. The better a device works the higher it's cost.
The advances of semiconductors and other modern technology are quickly advancing the field of solar energy and are proving to become cost efficient. It has found itself reappearing in two markets. "Peak- power" generators in the utilities market and providing power for areas that do not have networks of power plants. The oil industry is also finding many uses for this solar energy.
It may be that
the development of solar power may follow a similar path of the development
of the computer.
Solar Vehicles
So
now we know where solar energy found it's roots. Lets get to CARS!
As the technology becomes better,
electric cars are able to store energy and run for longer and longer periods
of time.
Some cars are able to run at night
on energy they harness during the day. Most all cars are designed
to have the least wind resistance as possible. Do to the small amount
of available energy, this becomes an obvious factor.
This is a new and developing field
and the future will give us much more history for this area.
There are many
races being set up for solar cars. Universities such as MIT and ISU
participate and these races greatly increase
performance within the field.
As competitors learn from each other and constantly improve in the name
of competition, solar
cars are also improving.
Current races are averaging speeds of 40 M.P.H. and are done over distances
as far as 1150 miles. It is a 9 day race.
The
teams are limited to $10 per kilowatt when purchasing the solar cells.
This prevents the teams with the most money from being assured a
victory.
SURF THE NET:
-
If you would like
to see some solar teamsPROJECTS
click here
- If you would like to learn a little more about SOLAR AND ELECTRIC CARS click here
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