Solar Energy - Let The Sun Shine In!

By Evans D. Smith

Solar energy has been around forever - at least as long as we humans can tell. Solar energy has been used for centuries. It dries your hair when you run out of time to use a power blow dryer. It could fry an egg on the sidewalk on a hot summer day. It also melts your ice cream on the same day.

But now, "solar energy" has a whole new meaning, as does "solar energy system." How and why has this happened? The history of solar energy is interesting.

Coal Started This Story

When coal was being used virtually solely in the Commercial Revolution, it was actually the norm. Nobody was nervous about finding another source of fuel, though they were beginning to use biomass and ordinary fuels, and wood had been used for a very long time. The utilization of solar power was first considered in the 1860s as scientists thought that coal was becoming less available. But in the early twentieth century, coal and petrol were again typically available, and were not too dear.

During the oil embargo ( 1973 ) and the energy crisis ( 1979 ), the executive's energy policies worldwide were under perusal. There had been replenished interest in developing solar technologies. Regime developed special programs with incentives, like the Sun Program in Japan. The U. S. had the Fed Photovoltaic Function Program. Government in several states also developed research facilities ( US, Japan, and Germany were outstanding. )

To be fair, in the U. S. there had already been commercial solar water heaters since the 1890s. There were enlarging number of users of these systems, till there were more trustworthy and less expensive fuels. Sun-powered water heating was of interest during the oil crisis that occurred in the 1970s but when the cost of petrol went down, so did interest in solar water heaters.

Since the 1990s, there has been increased interest in solar water heating, and now it is the most popular solar technology. There are other used of solar energy, however.

For office buildings, solar energy can provide day lighting systems and reduced need for air conditioning.

For farming, solar energy can run the pumps, wine presses, and even the chick brooders.

For cooking, solar power is utilized for cooking, drying, and pasteurization. These can be of varied forms, from reflector ovens ( remember using those while camping? ), panel cookers, which use solar panels to gather heat, and box cookers. These can reach temperatures adequate to cook just about anything. - 31812

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