Free talk - Armstrong & Innovation: Electricity from Sunlight Today
23 Nov
William Armstrong, c.1840 - oil on canvas by James Ramsey
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6.30pm -8.00pm
Explore the history and the future of solar electricity with Professor Nicola Pearsall of Northumbria University. To book a free place please email: linda.grogan@twmuseums.org.uk or telephone (0191) 277 2274.
Professor Nicola Pearsall of Northumbria University says:
"William Armstrong is remembered as a pioneer of renewable energy in the form of hydroelectricity, but it is clear from his speeches that he was also interested in the overall question of energy resources. He considered the implications of the exhaustion of fossil fuels and identified the sun as our ultimate energy source, if only we could harness it successfully to produce electricity.
"Although both photovoltaics, the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity, and solar thermal generation of electricity were known and studied to some extent in the time of Armstrong, it is only since around the middle of the 20th century that practical, economic solutions have been found.
"This lecture will consider the history of the development of photovoltaics, look at the current status of solar electricity and discuss what may happen in the future as we move to an energy system dominated by renewable sources.”