Solar Power - By Accident! By David Bunch Platinum Quality Author

It all started, according to Ralph Wallace, writing, appropriately enough, in the Baltimore Sun, when George Fred Keck, young Chicago architect, visited his "House of Tomorrow," which was being built for the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933. It was a bitter cold January day, but inside the building, 90 per cent of whose wall areas were clear glass, the workmen had shed their coats and were perspiring. Sunlight pouring in through the glass walls was the only source of warmth. The idea of heating a house with sunlight was here being demonstrated--by accident! A decade later, Keck and other experts eliminated the last "bugs."

A solar house, as now perfected, uses only two-thirds as much fuel as a conventional house of comparable dimensions. Through its all-glass, south-facing front, it admits a wealth of natural light, which saves its fortunate inhabitants from much of the eyestrain that seems to be one of the penalties of western civilization.

Occupants of a solar house can save vastly on their electric bills. They do not have to turn on lights in the evening until fully two hours after neighbors, dwelling in ordinary houses, have turned theirs on. No recent development in housing has so caught the imagination of the general American public. Thousands of solar houses have already been built-a whole real estate development in Chicago is called Solar Park-and tens of thousands are being planned, complete with triple-glazed walls and sun-fast carpets, drapes and upholstery. The foregoing is a record of achievements that reflect human determination to gain ascendancy over the basic power-source in our part of the universe.

Reliance on power from coal, oil, and other sources of previously stored energy, is reliance on power at second-hand. True enough, there remains in the earth fifty times as much coal as has been extracted to date; on the other hand, human demands for power have grown until now, in our complicated way of life, we are using more than one hundred times the energy actually required by our bodies. And the rate is steadily increasing.

Furthermore, with the spread of western-type civilization to other continents and to the so-called backward peoples of the Third World, demands for cheap power can only be expected to multiply. Meanwhile, discoveries of new deposits of coal and petroleum lag far behind the potential demand. These facts have spurred interest in the direct utilization of solar energy.

David is the author of many articles including Best Friend Quotes and also the author of Best life quotes

other articles:
Free dance lessons
I Miss You

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Bunch


Visit www.oscarsproducts.com for smart solar lights