A Look at the History of Solar Energy
Members of the
public have many misconceptions regarding
when the roots of the history of solar energy
can be traced. Not many people know this but
it was around the time of the Industrial Revolution
when some forward-thinking engineers became
alarmed by the philosophy in business which
was based on the use of non-renewable fuels.
Even as early as then, they were concerned
by the prospect of exhausting this limited
supply and not having an alternative source
of fuel for the needs of society. It was then
that the concept of tapping the power of the
sun – or solar energy – was born.
The emphasis on using the power of heat from
the sun to produce steam helped create the
steam-powered machines sometime after the
onset of the 20th century. But despite their
success in proving that solar energy could
in fact be used as a fuel source, most people
at this time were more enamored with the relatively
easy access to fossil fuels and much of the
progress in using solar energy was shelved
by decision-makers.
One reason inventors and scientists were not
able to set the imagination of decision-makers
on fire with the proven potentials of solar
energy was because many of them were not trained
in business so they found it difficult to
sell their ideas to those who actually had
a background in business. This actually has
been a consistently perceived problem in the
history of solar energy – the need to
balance scientific and technical prowess with
the business side of industry. And even today
you will find visionaries in the field of
solar energy and manufacturers of solar energy
systems sometimes at loggerheads over issues
that seem irreconcilable to both parties.
Considering that there have been scores of
people who believe in solar energy and its
potential, who have come up with so many ideas
on how solar energy systems should be produced,
it seems incredible that solar energy technology
has not progressed much further than it should.
It may be that inventors, scientists and engineers
have found it hard too to find those who are
willing to fund the exploration into the potential
of solar energy systems, because the financiers
may find it hard to recoup their investment.
There are examples of people who came up with
innovations in solar energy systems who nearly
went completely bankrupt in the process of
coming up with these innovations. Sometimes,
love for the truth becomes sacrificed in favor
of financial expediency to allow people to
survive.
In more than 100 years of exploration into
the potential of solar energy, it may seem
that this is the age when solar energy has
come of age and that adoption of solar energy
systems and technology will become widespread
at last. It is only to be hoped that it has
not come too late in the day to arrest the
climate changes that have resulted from all
the use of fossil fuels and which are expected
to worsen in the not-so-distant future.
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