Following the Long Path of Solar Energy History

Since interest has expanded in stopping the pollution of our environment by our use of fossil fuel, the search for an alternative energy source has been more in the news. The use of solar energy is know to be non-polluting and can help bring down our energy costs. Do you know how far back our interest in solar energy goes? Our solar energy history doesn’t date back to the 1970s as some people think. It started with the ancient Romans and the Greeks.

Solar energy has long been thought by some people to be the future of energy. With fossil fuels quickly disappearing and their prices rising sharply in the mean time, many consumers are already looking to solar energy to offset energy costs and to reduce their impact on the environment.

Ancient Origins

Many of us assume that the solar energy movement began in the 1970s when America was in the grips of an energy crisis. With gas being unavailable and the country being left with no alternative forms of energy, people were interested in alternative power at that time.

However, solar energy history goes back much further than that. Solar energy history actually began with the ancient Romans and Greeks, who used passive solar energy to heat their homes. Some homes were covered in glass on the south side, where most of the sunlight would hit. The glass helped to hold the warmth of the sunlight in, thus effectively becoming the first passive heating system in solar energy history.

Industrial Rebels

Solar energy history was again made by a few forward-thinking engineers and scientists during the Industrial Revolution, when the country’s dependence on fossil fuels was being encouraged and cemented into the culture.

These engineers and scientists realized that it was foolish to build an entire economy based on a fuel that would eventually run out forever. They carefully tested and planned out alternative energy plans, but the fossil fuel rush all but drowned them out. Their ideas were relegated to the solar energy history books for many years to come.

Flower Power

In the 1970s, the need for solar history was again realized. The lack of access to fossil fuels for that short time reminded the nation that we were completely dependent on oil products. Without any alternative sources of energy, the country was paralyzed. Although the crisis did not last long, it did encourage the US government to invest in the development of alternative fuels.

Today, the results of that research are affordable solar fuel cells. Unfortunately, the price is still not low enough to effectively compete with fossil fuels on a large scale. Solar energy also faces the difficult problem of integration: our lives are built around the use of fossil fuels, and changing that now would mean drastic changes in the way that our lives operate.

Homes, businesses, and industries are all affected by the waning oil supply. We are currently researching new forms of energy, but will they be viable for widespread use in the future? Only time will tell if we can adopt and embrace alternative energies.

Our solar energy history takes us back to the ancient Romans and Greeks. Romans and Greeks used passive solar energy to heat their homes. We are starting to recognize the benefits of knowing solar energy history. Because of the depletion of fossil fuel and the pollution to our environment, people have become more interested in solar energy. Using solar energy is a clean, low maintenance form of energy. The cost of the initial setup of solar panels is still very high so that discourages most people. But, with new technology the cost is coming down. We can learn by following the long path of solar energy history.