Solar orientation of housing was an obvious necessity for pre-industrial cultures of all kinds, such as the Anasazi culture (left).
Sun worship is evident in this Egyptian coin (right).
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“Though they had eyes to see, they saw to no avail; they had ears, but understood not. But like shapes in dreams, throughout their time, without purpose they wrought all things in confusion. They lacked knowledge of houses turned to face the sun, dwelling beneath the ground like swarming ants in sunless caves.”
-- Aeschylus 525-456 BC, refers to barbarians in Promethius Bound
Greeks and Romans also felt the central role of the sun in their life and religion. 
"At last in an incredible manner he [Archimedes] burned up the whole Roman fleet. For by tilting a kind of mirror toward the sun he concentrated the sun's beam upon it..."
John Zonaras (12th c. AD)
Archimedes is credited with saving Syracuse (Sicily) from a Roman seige with burning mirrors in 213 B.C. 
The Sun King
It's worth noting that French King Louis XIV (1638-1715)chose the sun as his emblem, as it was assocated with Apollo, god of peace and arts, and was also the heavenly body which gave life to all things. Like Apollo, the warrior-king Louis XIV tried to bring peace and promote the arts.
Clarence Kemp, a furnace dealer in Maryland, invented the Climax solar water heater in 1891.
It came in eight sizes, the most popular being the small 32 gallon unit that sold for $25.
William J. Bailey, a former steel worker, improved on the Climax by adding storage so that baths could be taken during the day and the night. His company began selling in Pasadena, Calif. in 1909.
Newspapers hailed it as "ne plus ultra" of solar heaters and hundreds were sold. But discoveries of cheap natural gas put Day and Night out of business by the 1920s.
Solar heater plans from Popular Mechanics, around 1935 (left).
Cuban solar hot water system, pre WWII (right).
Advertisement for solar hot water heater in Japan in 1960.
Cheap solar hot water units are abundant in many countries today.
Passive solar architecture was developed in the early 20th century, following the advice of Socrates.
It was commercialized as a pre-packaged home and advertised in Popular Mechanics in the 1940s.
Carlisle, MA -- Self sufficient solar house cost $325,000 in 1981.
Many new homes today incorporate passive solar features as a matter of course.
Mr. and Mrs. Saizo Goto of Tokyo are shown on the roof of the RCA building as they demonstrated a solar rice cooker. Goto is president of the Goto Optical Manufacturing Company in Tokyo. The cooker, weighing 250 pounds measures almost 4 feet across. It was designed for experimental work only and Mr. Goto was donating the device to Dr. Maria Telkes of the Electro Technical Laboratory of New York University. -- November 28, 1955
Solar Cooking
Dr. Maria Telkes, "world's most famous woman inventor in solar energy," speaks with Dr. J.E. Hobson (left) and Thomas K. Hitch. July 22, 1955