-
200
Romans and Greeks
In the 3rd Century Romans and Greeks used mirrors to light fires for religious things.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
600
Magnifying glass
In the 7th Century BC magnifying glass was used to project the sun's rays to make fire.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
First Solar Collector
In 1767 a scientist named Horace de Saussure made the first solar collector. Sooned used by Sir John Herschel and he cooked food on his expedition in 1830.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
Thermal energy
In 1816 a guy named Robert Stirling was a minister in Scotland in his extra time he work on making heat engines in his work place. Lord Kelvin used one of his models during his classes later it was used for thermal electric energy to produce energy.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
Edmond Becquerel figured out the Photovoltaic effect
In 1839 a scientist named Edmond Becquerel figured out the Photovoltaic effect while testing with an electrolytic cell made up of metal electrodes placed in an electricity-conducting solution—electricity-generation increased when open to light.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
Photovoltaic effect
Photovoltaic technology was found in the U.S.A when Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson made the silicon Photovoltaic cell at Bell Labs—the first solar cell capable of passing enough of the sun’s energy to electrical equipment. Bell Telephone Labs produced a silicon solar cell with 4% efficiency and later achieved 11% efficiency.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
Biggest thermal facility
In 1986 the world’s biggest solar thermal facility, in Kramer Junction, California, was commissioned. The solar field contained rows and rows of mirrors that concentrated the sun’s energy onto a place of pipes circulating a heat transfer fluid. The heat transfer fluid was used to produce steam, that powered a conventional turbine to make electricity.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf -
U.S Department of Energy
In 1996 the U.S. Department of Energy begins on operating Solar to an upgrade of its Solar One concentrating solar power tower project. Operated until 1999, Solar Two demonstrated how solar energy can be brought together and economically so that power can be produced even when the sun is not out.
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf
