| Solar energy history started when the Romans | | | | Awareness about depleting resources of energy |
| took the use of solar energy a step further by | | | | was there in the 1800s. Yet people still chose to |
| introducing glass windows, thereby trapping the | | | | use designs that ran on other forms of energy.. |
| heat of the sun. They were the first people to | | | | The first silicon solar cell was developed in 1953, |
| use glasshouses to create the right environment | | | | by Bell Laboratories scientists Gerald Pearson, |
| for plants and seeds to grow. | | | | Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller. It was capable of |
| History of solar power as we know it began in | | | | generating a measurable electric current. |
| the 1860s when August Mouchet invented a | | | | The US government took the initiative of |
| solar-powered motor as well as a solar steam | | | | developing the solar electric cell that Bell |
| engine. He also made ice from solar energy by | | | | Laboratories had produced, after oil prices nearly |
| connecting his steam engine to a refrigeration | | | | doubled in October 1973. |
| device. | | | | However, it hasn't been until recently that the |
| In the 1870s, William Adams created what is | | | | solar industry has started to take off. |
| known The Power Tower Concept. He used | | | | The cost of implementing renewable energy |
| mirrors and solar energy to power a steam | | | | technology is getting lower as applications are |
| turbine. His concept is still in use today. | | | | mass-produced and the price of fossil fuels rises. |
| The first solar was created by Charles Fritz in | | | | The role of photovoltaic energy systems for |
| 1883. In the later 1880s, Charles Tellier heated | | | | electricity generation will definitely increase in the |
| water with the help of his solar power system. | | | | future. |