Solar Energy Movement

The solar energy movement originated in the 19th century as a movement of independent inventors, engineers, and scientists attempting to capture the energy of the sun. It was not until after World War II that federal policymakers and environmentalists joined the solar energy movement. However, the notion of a citizen-based solar energy movement with broader social and political objectives did not emerge until the early 1970s. In response to concerns over pollution and energy security, the values and goals of the solar movement eventually evolved. By the late 1970s the solar movement had turned its focus to the social, environmental, and political impacts of energy production.

The solar energy movement in America originated in the early 19th century as part of what has come to be known as the age of mechanical engineering. The movement evolved from isolated attempts by inventors and engineers to develop machines that could extract nature's power from the sun. Rather than being solely an energy movement, the solar movement was also an emerging technology movement.

The contemporary solar energy movement has been an attempt to transform a society based on fossil fuels to one based on clean, renewable energy. This transformation represents a clear departure from the status quo, both in terms of energy production and social values. Instead of seeing technology as a means to master nature, contemporary supporters of solar energy emphasized the goal of ecological sustainability.

One of the earliest motivators for solar energy development was the concern over energy scarcity. W. Stanley Jevon's The Coal Question (1865) helped encourage American inventors such as John Ericsson to devote their efforts to developing alternatives to coal. As new discoveries of oil and gas eased perceptions of scarcity, interest in solar energy declined. The perception of energy scarcity following World War II, and the oil embargos of the 1970s, helped restimulate interest in solar energy.

World War II proved to have the greatest and most disruptive effect on the development of the solar energy movement. Solar research and development programs begun in the 1930s were interrupted by America's war mobilization, just as the movement was getting better organized. Scientists and engineers that were primarily involved in solar energy research [Page 1319]were redirected to war-related work. In addition, the diversion of vital resources and minerals to the war effort contributed to the decline of the solar water heating industry in America. The embargo on essential replacement parts contributed to the failure of America's first large-scale wind energy project. More importantly, the biggest influence on the solar movement was the effect of the development of nuclear fission technology. The development of a domestic atomic power program altered the priorities of energy research and development in the United States.

It was not until the political mobilization of the 1970s that political and environmental ideology moved to the forefront of the solar energy movement. Many of the scientists behind the development of solar energy technology viewed it as an exciting challenge, while various corporations viewed solar technology as an investment opportunity. Many federal policymakers thought that solar energy could be an opportunity to protect American interests against the possibility of fossil fuel scarcity. However, it was not until the increase in concern in the late 1960s over nuclear power safety, the electricity blackout of 1965, and the oil spill near Santa Barbara in 1969, that solar energy assumed a symbolic meaning. No longer was solar energy viewed only as an alternative to fossil fuels, it was now viewed as part of a movement against corporate and social excess.

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