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Solar Introduction

Solar energy (SE) is being used more and more to replace traditional forms of energy. The sun burns hydrogen at its core, thus releasing huge amounts of energy. This energy radiates to the Earth in the form of heat and light. It is the sun’s radiation (rays) that reaches the Earth.

Technically most of the forms of energy we use today are indirectly derived from the sun. Even fossil fuels are the products of photosynthesis ancient plants used to grow and then became fossilized. The sun is the Earth’s most powerful source of energy… both directly and indirectly.

The invention and development of solar energy technologies used today began only about forty or fifty years ago.

Today more and more research is directed at finding efficient ways to use the SE to generate electricity, heat homes and buildings, for cooking, and to heat water and air.

As a result, we are now able to diversify our energy sources to include a variety of solar powered systems to improve efficiency and save money on energy. Solar power is now used for heating and cooling, air and water as well as to provide electricity. Research and development continues and it is anticipated that in the future solar power will be more accessible to everyone.

How is it used?

There are several technologies in use to take advantage of SE. Concentrating solar power systems, passive solar heating and daylighting, photovoltaic systems and solar cells are just a few of the methods used to provide solar energy.

These active and passive solar systems are used for solar cooking, solar heating, and cooling, as well as several products that provide solar power for home and business use.

The advantages of using it are many. Even using a small solar energy panel for your home use can save you hundreds of dollars and help preserve our environment. It is almost certain that solar power is the choice of the future.

The History of Solar Energy


It seems that solar energy history extends further back, in 1970 we had the energy crisis and since then we started to look after renewable sources of energy. In 1830, studies over transforming the light in energy were published by Edmund Becquerel.


Others mention the first papers in the history of solar energy in 1860 when Augusted Mouchout worked on a new energy source and even received funds for this. What Mouchout created was a motor that ran on solar energy, a steam engine that also worked with solar energy and a refrigeration device that connected to his steam engine made ice, so ice was obtained from solar power. In 1870’s very popular was the Power Tower Concept that was consisting of steam engine and mirrors introduced by William Adams, and this design is still in use today.

The rays of sun were turned into electricity in 1883 by Charles Fritz. Another inventor installed a solar energy system to heat the water in his house. Since then people were aware of the danger of depleting the natural resources, but still they continued to use designs that used coal and other nonrenewable resources instead of the sun. Later in the 1950’s three inventors discovered silicon and its quality of semi-conductor material so Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chaplin are the ones we owe the possibility of using solar cells and solar panels made of silicon today. Solar energy is considered to be very important in the present and will be of a greater importance in the future; its history was also taken into attention since so many were preoccupied of developing a new possibility of saving our depleting resources.

Alternative sources of energy are looked for because our current energy resources are smaller and smaller and the costs are rising and at some point they will be ended, so solar power is a safe alternative source of energy. Solar power may be used to heat your swimming pool because you use in the summer your swimming pool and the solar power may be captured easily. 

Nowadays, those forms of alternative energy are very modern and tend to be developed intensely especially in the UK and States. Solar energy is at no costs, it is enough so as not to be finished in short time and may be used for varied purposes such as: heating your home and your pool (the water in your pool), for solar fountains and other devices.

During our era of ecology and of green power, every human action should protect the environment or at least be harmless. Solar power is harmless for the environment. A solar panel installed on your roof is used to heat the water in your home with solar energy this may be applied for the whole home or only for the water in your pool. Specialists that have undergone different studies in the domain highly recommend the use of solar energy for a healthy life.