Brief History of Solar Power

Solar Power System Melbourne – Do you ever wonder who invented solar power system? More like who invented the mechanism to utilize solar power. Now if we are going to talk about history, we should start at the very beginning when solar power started being utilized, even without panels or really any other such complex mechanisms. So let’s go back to the past, to the 3rd century B.C.! Romans and Greeks had sacred torches that were symbols of hope, faith and much more. For example you may have heard of the Olympic torch, which also has its origins in Greece. Coming back to solar energy, those sacred torches used to be of gigantic sizes and were lit by sunlight bounced off of mirrors. Solar energy was also utilized by focusing sunlight through magnifying glass to start a fire for cooking. With time, some cultures developed sunrooms to get particularly focused exposure to sunlight and warmth. 

A legendary tale says that Archimedes set wooden enemy ships on fire from the Roman empire. Theoretically according to the legend, Archimedes used huge bronze shields to reflect the sunlight on the ships which gained high temperatures and eventually caught fire. As difficult as it may sound for its practicality, theoretically it is not impossible. Whether Archimedes did it or not is yet to be proven; however, Greek navy carried out an experiment in the 1970s. They set a wooden test ship on fire that was floating 50 meters away, all they used was the bronze shield and solar energy!

Solar Power Cell

The solar power system uses photovoltaic cells. Now how did these cells enter the picture? Edmond Becquerel was experimenting on a cell made from metal electrodes in 1839 and he noticed extra energy production when the cells were exposed to sunlight. Edmond was a French physicist. Then in 1873 came Willoughby Smith who found selenium to be a viable photoconductor. Then came William Grylls Adams and Richard Evans Day in 1876, they used selenium and applied Becquerel’s photovoltaic principle and proved that it was a viable way to produce electricity. In 1883, Charles Fritz, an American inventor made the first ever functional selenium solar cell. We are still far from solar panels with silicone cells!

Solar Technology For Solar Power System Melbourne

We all know Albert. Albert Einstein! The e=mc2 guy! Yes, he had something to do with solar energy too! He was a scientist after all. Einstein brought light to solar energy’s potential. He wrote a paper about how sunlight carries energy and the photoelectric effect, in 1905. He played a significant role because he managed to really bring attention and acceptance to a remarkable extent.

You may not have imagined but solar power technology is not limited to earthly applications but also space! Various parts of the spacecraft are powered by solar panels! And this first happened in the 1950s and 1960s with the Vanguard 1 satellite in 1958. Next were the Vanguard 2, Explorer 3 and the Sputnik 3! Further NASA launched the Nimbus satellite in 1964 which ran entirely on a 470 watt photovoltaic solar panel array.

Almost simultaneously the solar power system Melbourne moved to very basic commercial and residential areas. 

Around the 1970s American President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the white house as a statement for promotion of clean energy production through solar for people. And now in the present we see more and more popularity of Solar Power System Melbourne among all people and entities from government to commercial and residential.

Solar Battery Storage in Melbourne

Solar batteries are one of the essentials for solar energy utilization to the maximum capacity possible. Companies use commercial solar battery storage to store the excess energy produced that they are yet to need and use. Solar batteries are an excellent way of preserving solar energy till the hour of need. Melburnians who have low energy usage but have the systems that produce more energy also use residential solar battery storage to store the solar energy. In the case of residential solar battery storage, the stored energy can of course be used in the hour of need. But it is a knight in shining amour especially when you are facing terrible weather for a long time and your panels have been unable to produce solar energy, in such situations the solar battery storage comes in handy like a rainy day fund!