ONE OF THE BEST FUTURE GREEN ENERGY IS SOLAR POWER!!! Testing a solar battery in 1954. Photo Credit: Bell Labs Before stepping to the history of SOLAR POWER, firstly, we let you know how to calculate the output of solar panel can produce the power in kilowatts (1000 watts) per day! And most of you may know it well also. Please write down your comment for other ideas! HOW TO CALCULATE SOLAR POWER OUTPUT FOR ONE PANEL: Here’s a simple formula for calculating your solar panel’s power output. Solar panel watts x average hours of sunlight x 75% = daily watt-hours As an example, let’s say you have 250-watt solar panels and live in a place where you get 5 hours of sunlight per day. What’s that 75 percent for? That’s to account for all those variables we've been going over.
250 watts x 5 hours x 0.75 = 937.5 daily watt hours (per day) To translate this into the more familiar kilowatt hours you’re used to seeing on your electricity bill, simply divide by 1000. 937.5 / 1000 = 0.937 kilowatts
To round up and make it pretty, you can get 0.94 kilowatt of power from your 250-watt solar panel per day. HISTORY OF SOLAR ENERGY: 1800s -1950 The photovoltaic (PV) effect refers to the creation of electricity when a material is exposed to light. The name is a combination of phos (meaning light in Greek) and volta (Volta was the Italian physicist after whom the volt is named). Although the sun’s energy has been used for millenia, the history of solar cells begins in the 1800s.
The PV effect was first discovered by A.E. Becquerel, a French physicist, in 1839, but the first photovoltaic cell was not built until 1883, by Charles Fritts. For the next few decades, scientists discovered more about how solar energy works. In the early 1860's, a French mathematician named August Mouchet began registering patents for solar powered engines. . In 1878, Mouchet and his assistant Abel Pifre – who would go on to develop the first solar powered printing press – exhibited their solar powered engine at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, winning a gold medal for their efforts. Unfortunately, Mouchet's work was ahead of its time. The French government determined that solar power was not economically viable, and they terminated his funding. Fortunately, solar technology trudged on.
1950s-1970: 1954 - On April 25, 1954, Bell Labs announces the invention of the first practical silicon solar cell. Shortly afterwards, they are shown at the National Academy of Science Meeting. These cells have about 6% efficiency, but other document said 4% efficiency. 1956 was another key point in the history of solar panels: research into using PV cells for satellites began. The first satellite to use solar energy (to power radios) was the Vanguard I, launched in 1958.
Although solar power for homes was still pricey, PV power use in satellites was expanding. In 1962, Bell Telephone launched of the first solar-powered telecommunications satellite, the Telstar. 1970s AND BEYOND: Technological progress as well as greater interest by the oil industry helped lower the price of PV cells. After the oil crisis of the 1970s, oil companies recognized that oil would be too expensive in the future. Companies including Shell, BP and Mobil began to invest in solar research.
Solar panels were installed on the roof of the White House in 1979. It was through funding from Exxon that Dr. Elliot Berman developed a cheaper solar cell. Berman discovered that, while lowering efficiency, using silicon from multiple crystals was much cheaper than using the silicon from a single crystal. That development brought the price down fivefold.
Solar cells were now used in offshore gas and oil rigs, and began to be seen as an alternative energy source in remote off-grid locations. The early 1970s brought a surge of renewed interest in solar energy’s potential as a renewable source of electricity. At the time, a worldwide oil crisis and growing environmental concerns led to new efforts to develop alternatives to fossil fuels. The advancements in solar efficiency decreased the price per watt from over $100 to about $20.
In the meantime, with the help of greater funding for solar research, new varieties of silicon were developed, allowing for the widening of uses for solar energy. Since the 2000s, PV solar panels have become affordable and practical for residential use, and are widely used in non-residential applications, too. The 2000's and 2010's have brought even more advancement to the world of solar energy technology. The cost has dropped dramatically, with efficiency increasing. Today, nearly one million homes in the United States use solar power for all or part of their electricity. Today, PV cells have around 15 - 22% efficiency.
This means that from 80-85% of the light they receive is not converted into usable electricity. Scientists are continuously experimenting with new technologies that can boost efficiency, making solar panels more effective. New developments like light-sensitive nanoparticles and gallium arsenide may potentially be able to capture sunlight more efficiently than existing PV cells, and advancements in solar energy storage technology are also being developed. Just recently, Ohio State University researchers created a solar battery that is both 20% more efficient and 25% less expensive than those on the market today. As solar technology continues to improve, new solar cells made from novel materials will continue to become more efficient at converting light into electricity.
Combined with increasingly lower cost, solar power is poised to be one of the most important renewable energy technologies of the coming decades. Interested in learning how solar power compares to wind power? Power your home with solar energy, wind energy, and other completely clean and renewable energy sources. Take advantage of switching to a renewable energy plan today with solar companies, the trusted renewable energy companies working to make the world a better place. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INTERESTING IN GREEN ENERGY.
2021-05-18