The history of using solar energy

The energy received on Earth from the Sun is plentiful and totally renewable. Basically, the sun enabled life on our planet, and our life cannot be imagined without it. The sun is directly or indirectly at the origin for nearly all the energy resources on Earth, as fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and oil), hydro (global water circulation is due to the sun), wind, waves, biomass, etc. The sunlight was used as an energy resource already by ancient civilizations. Since than a lot of innovative technologies and advancements were performed in this field. The paper presents the main milestones of the developments performed in this important field of energy conversion.

I. Introduction

The energy requirement of the mankind is continuously growing. It is forecasted that by the middle of our century the global energy demand will at least double. This huge energy necessity and the actual environmental challenges will be possible to be covered by the increasing electrical energy conversion from renewables, among them solar energy [1].