SOLAR POWERS ITS WAY THROUGH HISTORY

The history of solar power goes back as far as the 7th Century BC. 
In ancient Egypt, heat from the sun was used to bake a mixture of straw and mud into bricks which were used for construction.Ancient Greeks and Romans recognised the benefits of what we now call passive solar design - using architecture to maximise the sun’s capacity to heat and light indoor spaces. 
Building south-facing houses enabled them to maximise the winter sun.In doing so, they were able to reduce their dependence on firewood which wasn’t always plentiful, using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.The concept of solar design was taken further by the Romans who promulated a law against obscuring a neighbour’s access to sunlight, and also using glass and mica to cover south-facing openings.
Much less passive was the use of solar energy by the Ancient Greeks, who used bronze shields to direct the sun’s rays onto the wooden ships of the Roman army to set fire to them.By building their houses into the sides of rocky cliffs, some native American cultures were able to get the most out of the heat trapped by the rocks during the day.
The world’s first solar collector is said to have been built in 1767 by the Swiss Horace de Saussure, but it was only in 1839 when Frenchman Edmond Becquerel first showed photovoltaic activity that the foundation for modern solar power research was set.The fact that exposing materials to light increased electric current was his major discovery.
Mathematician Auguste Mouchout continued the French nation’s interest in solar power, and invented the first active solar motor and a solar powered steam engine.  Both inventions failed due to high production costs.
Around the globe, scientists were experimenting with solar energy.  In 1876, William Grylls Adams discovered that selenium produced electricity when exposed to light, without the need for heat or moving parts. 
Albert Einstein, better known for his Theory of Relativity, was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theories on the photoelectric effect – involving the generation of electricity through solar cells.
In the 1950s, Bell Laboratories (now known as AT & T Laboratories) developed the first silicon solar cell which could generate a measurable electric current.This was the first time that a cell had been developed that could convert the sun’s energy to power everyday appliances.
Solar power found its first real use in 1958 when the Vanguard One satellite was launched carrying a solar powered radio.  In 1981, the first solar powered aircraft flew from France to England powered by 16 000 solar cells giving off 3 000 watts of power.
The Arab Oil Embargo in 1973/4 forced western economies to rethink solar energy research as a means of reducing their dependence on oil.In the 1970s, Dr Elliot Berman designed a less expensive solar cell, which enabled a large number of new uses to be considered, such as railroads, navigation warning lights and homes in remote areas. 
Concern for the environment has galvanised research into finding viable alternatives to fossil fuels, such as wind power, geothermal and solar power.And whilst technologies today are a far cry from baked mud and straw bricks, the basic idea of using solar energy as a viable source of renewable energy remains.