The history of the modern day solar panel can be traced back many centuries. The original technology that spawned today's solar panels bares little resemblance to the hi tech technologies of today. However, we could not have developed our solar panels without the ingenuity of previous generations. Horace de Saussare was one of the original giants of innovation way back in 1776. He invented the first solar collector. Hi solar collector was a dome shaped apparatus that would boil ammonia. This invention was the instigator for the first solar power steam engine in 1861. This invention caused people to look up and notice the huge potential available from harnessing the power of the sun.
During the 1880s, the first light converting photovoltaic cells were built. These cells were made of selenium and had an efficiency of one to two percent. In 1891, the first commercial solar water heater was patented by an American named Clarence Kemp. In 1921, it was for his work on photoelectricity that Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize.
It wasn't really until the middle of the 20th century that you began to see solar power in mainstream usage. In the 1950s solar power was used to heat an office building. The solar power revolution was hit badly by economic reasons. People are price conscious and this means that with the fall in oil prices in the 1960s solar power usage fell out of favour.
The increasing prices of oil and global disasters such as the Gulf war have led to an ever increasing cost of oil. The push towards solar power continued and it is reported that in the 1990s over 1 million US homes had solar power panels installed.
In the 21st century, modern solar panels have almost become an everyday fact of life. We now use solar energy in two ways. These ways are photovoltaic conversion format and thermal solar power. Both ways help us to harness the power of the sun to make things work.
If you are looking to get solar panels installed in your home then contact Eddie Connolly Builders Nenagh. We also specialise in thermal insulation.
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