The theory of plate tectonics could be seemed as the basic framework for studies on geological structures. The traditional plate tectonics theory suggests that Earth's lithosphere is broken up into plates and moves above the underlying asthenosphere. Density variations and energy from the decay of radioactive elements drive convections in asthenosphere. However, some recent studies showed that climate changes could directly affect tectonic activities such as orogeny. Furthermore, some studies have found that the variation of solar insolation was recorded in some records of tectonic events. These research suggests that variations of solar insolation could have a first - order effect on plate tectonics, which may make people rethink about the idea that endogeneous energy provide all the energy that plate tectonics need. We analyzed how solar insolation could affect plate tectonics from two aspects. First, we used Fourier analysis to prove that the variations of solar insolation were recorded in tectonic records, like seafloor bathymetry and volcanic sedimentary rocks. Second, we built a simple 2 - D mechanical model to analyze whether oceanic currents could affect plates ' movements. Although many factors were neglected in calculations, the results could be meaningless. But from these calculations we could prove that solar insolation could provide more energy than those which is released by tectonic events. Also, some results from the model calculations are accord with current plate movements, and the energy transferred to plates are in the same amount with that which was released by earthquakes. This may suggest that ocean currents could potentially affect plate tectonics.