History of Solar Energy
HISTORY OF SOLAR ENERGY
Jake Tutorow
Indiana Institute of Technology
Fort Wayne, IN
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explain the history of solar energy as well as the difficulties faced in acquiring government support and investments for infrastructure and technological gains. The history of solar energy is broken into five distinct categories: Earth energy, the ancient solar age, the modern solar age, solar in the 1950s, solar today, and agriculture. Earth energy focuses on the understanding of the relationships between matter, energy, and life on Earth. The ancient solar age describes the technologies that were discovered up until about 200 years ago. The modern solar age gives birth to the advancements in solar technology that led to photovoltaics. Solar in the 1950s focuses on the battle between the advancement of nuclear energy and solar energy. In solar today, the more recent conflicts between nuclear fusion technologies and the most advance photovoltaics are examined. Lastly we dip into the agricultural uses of solar energy and how they have been perfected from there subtle begging in the ancient solar age.
Key Words: Solar Energy, Nuclear Energy, Photovoltaic, Biomass, radiation, natural process, solar architecture, city planning, United Nations General Assembly, Atoms for Peace
I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy granted by the sun has been prevalently abundant since the creation of the Earth billions of years ago. For many millennia, all life on our planet has harnessed this vast and infinite source of energy. Solar energy has been the sole source of all energy from the beginning of time, but in the last two centuries we have found a way to convert this energy to our own need in a much more practical way for an industrialized civilization. Many fossilized forms such as coal, oil, and natural gas revolutionized America and all of these would not be vastly available without the energy provided by our Sun.
Many years have passed
Jake Tutorow
Indiana Institute of Technology
Fort Wayne, IN
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explain the history of solar energy as well as the difficulties faced in acquiring government support and investments for infrastructure and technological gains. The history of solar energy is broken into five distinct categories: Earth energy, the ancient solar age, the modern solar age, solar in the 1950s, solar today, and agriculture. Earth energy focuses on the understanding of the relationships between matter, energy, and life on Earth. The ancient solar age describes the technologies that were discovered up until about 200 years ago. The modern solar age gives birth to the advancements in solar technology that led to photovoltaics. Solar in the 1950s focuses on the battle between the advancement of nuclear energy and solar energy. In solar today, the more recent conflicts between nuclear fusion technologies and the most advance photovoltaics are examined. Lastly we dip into the agricultural uses of solar energy and how they have been perfected from there subtle begging in the ancient solar age.
Key Words: Solar Energy, Nuclear Energy, Photovoltaic, Biomass, radiation, natural process, solar architecture, city planning, United Nations General Assembly, Atoms for Peace
I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy granted by the sun has been prevalently abundant since the creation of the Earth billions of years ago. For many millennia, all life on our planet has harnessed this vast and infinite source of energy. Solar energy has been the sole source of all energy from the beginning of time, but in the last two centuries we have found a way to convert this energy to our own need in a much more practical way for an industrialized civilization. Many fossilized forms such as coal, oil, and natural gas revolutionized America and all of these would not be vastly available without the energy provided by our Sun.
Many years have passed
References: 1. Cain, F. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.universetoday.com/18107/energy-from-the-sun/ 2. Marland, G. 2007. Retrieved from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/ndp030/CSV-FILES/ 3. Silvi, Cesare. 2008. History and future of renewable solar energy. Development 51, (3): 409-414, http://search.proquest.com/docview/216913180?accountid=42681 (accessed April 14, 2013). 4. OhWeh. 2011. Thüngen solar park. http://tikalon.com/blog/2012/solar_park_Thungen.jpg 5. Author unknown. 2007. Comparative costs of California central station electricity generation technologies. 6. Nakano, Yoshiaki. 2012. "Ultra-High Efficiency Photovoltaic Cells for Large Scale Solar Power Generation." Ambio 41: 125-31. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0267-4. http://search.proquest.com/docview/963513692?accountid=42681. 7. Author Unknown. NREL.gov 8. Author unknown. www.buildagreenhouse.net/ Jake Tutorow is a sophomore at Indiana Institute of Technology. He is pursuing a degree in energy engineering.