Leonardo da Vinci is most famous for painting the Mona Lisa, but he was also an avid inventor who dabbled in a myriad of technologies. Some of his sketchbooks show that he was designing ways to harness the power of the sun way back in the fifteenth century. Alas, he did not have the technological means to bring his ideas to fruition.

One could argue that the real start of solar energy was in the 1860’s when August Mouchet created a solar-powered motor and a steam engine that worked off solar energy. How useful was it? By connecting this steam engine to a refrigeration device he was able to make ice.

In 1883 Charles Fritz created the first solar cell, effectively turning sunlight into an electric current. Later on in the same decade Charles Tellier installed a solar energy system that was capable of heating the water in his house.

In the 1950’s the whole idea of solar energy was taken up a notch when three employees of Bell Labs (i.e.: Calvin Fuller, Daryl Chaplin, and Gerald Pearson) discovered how well silicon worked as a semiconductor. Why was this so important? Silicon is the substance that most of today’s solar panels and solar cells are made from.

These are just a few of the milestones in the history of solar energy. As you can see, the concepts and ideas of solar energy have been around for years, but there was no real incentive to see them brought into the mainstream. The concept of solar energy needed a carrot and a stick and it was only going to be a matter of time before we found one.

It was the oil crisis of October 1973 that changed the world’s outlook on solar energy. With the price of “liquid gold” going sky high, the U.S. government sprung into action. Not only did they start down the road of diversifying energy sources, they began to invest large amounts of money into solar energy research. This huge and rapid influx of cash helped to create our modern solar energy panels and cells…inventions that are quickly becoming an important mainstay of our technological future.

- Wallace Kirby

According to a report in El Mundo today, a small Spanish village in the province of Murcia called Bullas, until now known only for its wines, has become a leading example in renewable energy. The solar field in Bullas first began to function in November 2007 generating 21% of the total energy required by this municipality, the equivalent of 42% of the energy required by all households.

According to the spokesperson for Gehrlicher Solar, Fernando Sacristán, the use of this solar field has led to a reduction of CO2 emissions by 8000 tonnes per year in line with the requirements set out in the Kyoto Protocol.

Another advantage of the use of the solar field is that part of the energy produced by the solar panels is used by a nearby water plant which provides irrigation to the surrounding land. The solar panels account for 30% of the plant’s electricity consumption. Part of the land where the solar plaques are located is owned by the local town hall and part is owned by landowners from the area.

Bullas generates 21% of it's total energy needs via solar fields

The profits from the solar field are being invested in a training workshop on solar energy and there are several solar powered open-air cooking facilities where people can go to have picnic. These cooking facilities can boil a litre of water in 6 minutes.

The solar field is the result of an agreement between Gehrlicher Solar and Bullas town hall run by PSOE. It is managed by Ecoparque Solar de Bullas, a business consisting of 70 small investors from Murcia and provides employment to 15 people.

At present a project of expansion which hopes to double the number of solar panels within a year and a half is underway. In addition, there are plans to install solar panels on public buildings such as schools, sports centres and the town hall itself.

According to Fernando Sacristán ‘the environmental impact of these panels is minimal given that the panels are not permanently fixed and if there is a problem or one breaks down then it can be removed and replaced easily without leaving any waste behind’.

Until now wind has been the preferred source of renewable energy in Spain, and increasing areas of land in Castilla la Mancha and northern Spain have had windfarms installed. However solar energy has taken longer to become an established source of eco-friendly energy, despite the fact that many areas of Spain enjoy more hours of sun per year than most other European countries. The price of solar energy systems for private use has only recently started coming down, making it possible for more and more homeowners to consider the possibility of installing panels. And recent solar energy initiatives like this one reported in El Mundo , as well as similar ones we have seen in Zaragoza and Albacete offer further proof that Spain may be starting to recognise the country's huge potential to generate renewable solar energy.