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The History of Solar Power

There is a ball of light that hangs in the sky, supplying heat and life to things all across the world. This is called the sun, and its rays of light provide a seemingly infinite source of power! But how did we harness this power, and how important is it that we tap into this resource today? The history of solar power is interesting and important.   

It all started in the late 1830’s, when Edmund Becquerel (A French physician) published his findings on how light can be turned into energy. Although these findings were never really applied, his book was used as a reference for many future Inventors.

According to Anne Clarke at ezinearticles.com , the major starting point happened In the 1860s when Augusted Mouchout received funds from the French monarch to work on a new energy source, which just so happened to be solar power. Mouchout created a motor that ran on solar energy, as well as a steam engine that worked off of solar energy. He also created a machine that used energy from the sun to make ice! He did this by connecting his steam engine to a refrigeration device. After Mouchout found new uses for solar energy, people started using it in all sorts of ways (1). I think this is interesting, because his experiments set the foundation for future solar power use.

Anne Clarke also wrote that during the year 1873, Willoughby Smith experimented with selenium solar cells after researching its sensitivity to light while testing material for underwater telegraph cables. William Adams published the first book about solar energy, called “A Substitute for Fuel in Tropical Countries.” William and his student Richard Day started using mirrors and the sun to power a steam engine during the 1870s (1).This was also quite a big step, because many followed this trend of using steam power.

According to “facts-about-solar-energy.com,” their steam engine ran at 2.5 horsepower, significantly beating Mouchout’s steam engine, which ran at only 0.5 horsepower. They called this the Power Tower Concept, and it’s still used to this day (1). Working with steam engines isn’t solar power, but it’s still a renewable resource.  

In 1883, Charles Fritz was the first to turn the sun’s rays into electricity. His solar cell only had a convection rate of 1-2%, but this was quite a big step (facts-about-solar-energy.com 1).

During the years 1885- 1889, Charles Tellier (also known as the father of refrigeration) installed a non-concentrating/ non-reflecting solar motor system to heat the water in his very own home (facts-about-solar-energy.com 1). If he would have stuck with this plan, heating water wouldn’t be so damn expensive, or polluting.  

Anne Clarke stated that, during the 1950s, three men named Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chaplin (of Bell Laboratories) discovered how well silicon worked as a semi-conductor, allowing solar panels to operate at 6%. From then on, Silicon was used for solar cells and solar panels. Since then,

solar power has been used in toys, radio stations, space shuttles, and way more. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, solar power thrived (1). Quite true- in fact, the movement to solar power was quite prominent.

As you can see, the history of solar energy is far greater than many would realize. Below is a timeline depicting how solar energy was founded, and its history.  

After viewing this timeline, one can see the pattern which solar power developed. There was a large gap between the years 1840 and 1850. This is due to lack of experimentation that took place. I think if we had put more effort into solar energy, we would be farther along, and we wouldn’t be so dependent on nonrenewable resources such as fuel and coal. We could have been a way more advanced society.

Work Cited

“Solar Energy HISTORY.” facts-about-solar-energy.com. 2005. Web. 4 Jan 2011.

Clarke, Anne. “The History of Solar Energy – It Is Longer Than You May Think.”     ezinearticles.com. Aug 2006. Web. 4 Jan 2011.

This, my friends, is a research paper. I am close to uncovering the secret of the universe and… Oh, sorry, wrong piece.
What I really aim to talk about is the history of (yep, you guessed it) school lunches. Yay. I am starting to feel significantly bored with this topic, so let’s get it over with.
Before we delve deep into the sticky black abyss which is history, we must first ask questions, which will act as our guides. What are the three main questions about the history of the school lunch program you want to know? I can think of three: Why did this program start, How did lunch get so unhealthy, and what makes them acceptable by the FDA’s standards? Well, here are the answers.
1. Why and when did the School Lunch Program start?
After reading a page on educationbug.org, I found out that President Harry S. Truman Began the school lunch program as a measure of national security in 1946. This was because he read a study which explained how many young men had been rejected from WW II due to medical conditions, many of which were caused by malnutrition as children. Since then, over 180 million lunches have been supplied to American schools nationwide.
2. How did lunch get so unhealthy?
Well according to Christopher Brown, teacher extraordinaire and bumbling fool, food ads are prevalent almost everywhere you stray. Due to this, the consumer, usually younger people, eat more than they should. School lunches were designed so that those with minimal calorie intake could catch up on the calories they missed. But with all this excess of high calorie foods, the person who eats more than they should (and that’s a lot of people) store more than they should, and that is how we get fat, which leads to many different health conditions.
3. How does this junk fit the FDA standard?
Well, the FDA standard for school lunches is based solely on calorie intake. So technically, they can make lunch out of anything, as long as it qualifies for the right calorie level. So why not make it as cheap as possible, right? That’s the way they think, and that’s how it fits in.

Look up here and read this! then look back at me!

P.S. you smell.

(for those of you reading this, dont panic).

hello, im back.

Since the beggining of the early 1920’s, companies such as Ovaltine and Camel Cigarettes have been bypassing the main defenses of a family, the perents, by marketing directly to the children. I find this plan to be quit genius, which is why we should fear it. when I was a child, I would often find myself buffeted left and right by ads of all sorts. And I didnt even own a TV. When i ask children about what their favorite ad is, its no suprise that they can name it right off the top of their heads. The thing i just described is a tool used by companies to minipulate the fragile little minds of todays youth. And it works! A kid can watch this ad and then go strait to the perant for help in recieving this good. if you have a child or even know one well, you know that they can be very convincing. they may only be about 6 or 7, but they already know whats best for them. How repulsive is this sytem? All i can ask myself now is- What will they think of next?

Its been four long months since I wrote on this blog. its been even longer still since the Flex high school decided to start their own hoop house and grow their own veggies. I was part of that team, and our mission was to supply healthy greens while helping to foster knowledge about agricultre throughout our school, and others abroad.
But what kind of impact will this have on future flex students? From this day on, I wil continue to write a little sumpthin- sumpthin about our diet at Homer Flex. From the home-made lunches to the proccesed pantamime of school meals, we’ll discuss it all.

The Birth of destruction. 

           It was 12:00 in the afternoon at an airport in Nashville, Tennessee. Standing on the runway was a man, age 41, wearing a cleanly pressed, gray business suit and sporting sunglasses as dark and black as his wretched soul. His name was turner. Two large men accompanied him with concealed weapons, tucked away in shoulder holsters for easy use. Their names were Larson and Sanderson. Brothers, but also hated rivals; one always kept an eye on the other. Turner insisted on bringing them along, not only for reassurance, but also to help spill the blood of his enemies, which was ultimately turner’s real mission in life. Because this meeting would decide the fate of his life and everything it stood for, which was death, power, and annihilation of the ones he hated, Turner had Brought 500,000 dollars in cash as a bribe, which now rested safely in his hands. A private jet pulled out of a hangar and stopped close to Turner, the door opening as it slowed. Turner stepped on to the jet, a smile spreading on his face as a large man got up to greet him.            

            “You’ve lost weight, Farkerson,” Turner said as they shook hands; “you’re looking quite slim.” Farkerson remembered how malicious and provoking Turner could be.

“Listen, Turner- Before we discuss business, I would like to share with you the information I’ve gathered about the subject so far.”

“No need, Farkerson. I have all I require in the information department. All I want is the test subject.”

“What I have for you IS required, old friend. You see, Malone no longer is as easy to obtain as promised… he finally slipped.” The room was quiet.

“How bad is it?”  Turner Asked, slight concern in his voice. The jet had started to leave the ground. “Where is he now?”

“Listen, Turner, he’s in a safe place…” Sitting on a couch in the room, Larson and Sanderson were in kick back mode; but they had the ability to move fast and strike at any second. “He is in a private prison for the Gifted. ”

“Is this true? Where did you get this information?”

“Come on, Turner, you know I have people on the inside. You know, just in case a couple of good eggs end up with the bad ones… I could use good fighters.”

“Who’s your man on the inside, Farkerson?”

“Nice guy, 38, works as a guard. He’s keeping an eye on your boy, Turner; there shouldn’t be any problems.”

            “Is there a problem money wise though? Do I need to pay extra?”

“Don’t you worry, old friend. Our men will take care of everything. Although, it would be nice to have a little extra dough… you know, just too ensure a safe rescue of your boy. A few extra dollars shouldn’t hurt.”

Farkerson’s eyes glowed green with anticipation as Turner revealed the briefcase he had tucked safely under the table.

“500,000. This enough?”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have!” Commented Farkerson as he reached for the money. “Your to kind.”

2

Confined. Contained. He lay in the fetal position, hungry and cold. He was trapped like a rat in a maze; but like all lab rats, he could find the prize at the end; cheese, or in this case, freedom. He didn’t move, because the more he moved, the more energy he would waste. Making sure the police caught him was easy.

He just had to act a little crazy, Kill a couple people; this should make it a little harder for Turner to get to him. Since he was in prison, Turner would have to pay extra to get him out. Valuable time would be spent putting together a team to break him out, time used by Malone to escape. He was never going back. He was an experiment. To powerful to contain. Concentrating all his remaining power on a metal bar in the window, He made it budge just enough… Just enough to do nothing. He had no power. The guards took it away as the days went by. Soon he would have know power.