The Role of History in Rediscovering the Lost Culture of Solar Energy
Abstract
This paper presents an update regarding the ongoing project of an Italian Archive and Museum on the History of Solar Energy, i.e. the energy contained in the direct and diffuse energy radiated every day from the Sun to Earth as well as its indirect forms of air and water currents and forests and other forms of biomass resulting from photosynthesis. The purpose of the Archive and Museum is to make available literary sources and archeological evidences of significant inventions for the use of solar energy preserved at Italian historic sites and Museums. The focus of the Solar Archive and Museum (SAM) is on two solar ages: the primitive or ancient solar age, from antiquity up to 200 years ago, essentially based on empirical solutions, and the modern or future solar age, which has just begun, based on the knowledge and methods acquired from the scientific and technological revolutions of the last 500 years, primarily on the understanding of the composition of light and how it can be manipulated for producing steam, electricity, and fuels.
Keywords
Solar energy, Solar light, Solar energy history, Italian solar energy pioneers, Solar heat, Solar steam, Solar electricity, Solar fuels, Solar energy in agriculture, Solar energy in architecture and urban planning, Climate change, Solar culture, Solar education.