Solar energy is essential for the development of life on the planet; however, the way in which human civilization has been innovating new strategies and tools to take advantage of this resource has undergone a long evolution. 

The sun is indispensable for the existence of life on the planet, the first civilizations realized this and, as they evolved, so did the techniques to harness its energy. At the beginning techniques were used to harness passive solar energy, later techniques were developed to harness thermal solar energy, and then photovoltaic solar energy was added.