Solar Energy History in Europe Delayed Nearly One Thousand Years Since the Fall of Rome

Solar Energy History in Europe was much delayed after the fall of Rome. It took nearly a thousand years for solar concepts to be used in much of Europe and even to this day solar design is not so widely implemented.

Orientating buildings to take advantage of solar energy continued in Greece and Turkey

In northern Spain buildings during the dark ages were built with thick north walls to block the cold north winds.

In the mid to late 1800's an interest emerged in solar design with the belief that the sun had germ killing properties. Buildings and sometimes communities were designed so buildings had maximum exposure to sunlight. These beliefs were perhaps born form the experiences during the great plagues that ravaged Europe. These belief are actually still very prevalent to this day.

Ironically, the sun's radiation that kills germs does not pass through glass.

The Royal Institute of British Architects in 1932 created a device called a heliodon that helped building designers see the affects of the sun's movements on a building throughout the day and the various seasons.

Examples photos and drawings of British Solar power are forthcoming.

In the early 20th century in France a housing official named Augustin Rey was a student of solar design for housing blocks.

Rey discovered that certain ratios were important in solar design. He found that south facing apartments should have a space two and a half times the height of the building for each to be able to use the sun. Rampant development prevented his concepts from being implemented. Other designers in France came to similar conclusions such that a house would only occupy half of it's land to prevent the structure from shading the adjacent building. But none of these plans were implemented.

German Solar Architecture began after World War I when German architects experimented with function designs attempting to use south facing glass to help heat buildings.

Large rows of housing blocks were built oriented north south with the belief that the west and east sun would heat both side of the building as the solar day progressed. This concept did not workout. The buildings were cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.

After World War II there were various solar projects in various European countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Solar design for buildings was never implemented because fossil fuels were very abundant and relatively very inexpensive.

Photos and examples of solar energy history in Europe are forthcoming.