Timeline of Solar Power (Part 2, 1961-2009)

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1961 – United Nations meet on subject: Solar Energy in the Developing World. Solar Working Group (SWG), an early version of the PV specialists conference, meets in Washington DC.
1964 - Nimbus spacecraft is launched into space with a 470-W Photovoltaic array.

Nimbus was an American weather satellite first launched in 1964, noted here because it utilized a 470 watt photovoltaic array (solar power).


1965 - Peter Glaser, A.D. Little, develop satellite solar power station concept. New edge-defined, film-fed growth (EFG) process is discovered by Tyco Labs, they are the earliest to grow silicon and crystal sapphire ribbons.
1966 - Orbiting Astronomical Observatory is launched into space with a one kilowatt Photovoltaic array.
1967 - - Akira Fujishima publishes his discovery of the Honda-Fujishima effect. The Honda-Fujishima effect is used for hydrolysis in the photo-electrochemical cell. Soyuz 1 is completed, and recognized as the first manned, solar PV powered spacecraft.
1968 - OVI-13 satellite is launched into space with 2x CdS panels.
1970 – In the United Soviet Socialist Republic, Zhores Alferov and a team of scientists discover the first effective GaAs heterostructure photovoltaic cells.
1972 - French government sets up a CdS PV system in village school in Africa (Niger) to display educational television shows.
1973 – The “Photovoltaic Conversion of Solar Energy for Terrestrial Applications”, known as the “Cherry Hill Conference” was held in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Below: The photo, taken in 2009 at Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (Philadelphia, PA), features the original organizers of the Cherry Hill Workshop. The original Cherry Hill Conference was held in New Jersey, USA in 1973.


1974 – The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in Japan begins Project Sunshine. Tyco Labs grew the first EFG, 1-inch-wide ribbon by an endless-belt process. The Florida Solar Energy project commences. Integrated Living Systems (J. Baldwin) completes the first facility completely powered by wind and solar in New Mexico.
1975 – USA government funded terrestrial photovoltaic R&D project is assigned to Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL), due to concepts learned at the Cherry Hill Conference. Bill Yerkes creates Solar Technology International and Exxon starts Solar Power Corporation. Jet Propulsion Laboratories implements Block I procurement by US government.
1976 – At RCA Laboratories, David Carlson and Christopher Wronski build the first amorphous silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells, with efficiency levels of 1.1%.
1977 – Jimmy Carter, the President of the USA, installs Solar Panels at the white house and creates solar incentive programs. Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI).

Director Paul Rappaport (left) welcomes President Jimmy Carter (center) the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) on May 3, 1978. Later, the President inspected solar panels and addressed the staff.


(SERI), which eventually is renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is founded in Golden, Colorado. Worldwide photovoltaic production exceeds 21.3 MW 500-kW.
1979 - NASA's LeRC completes a 3.5-kW solar power system on Papago Indian Reservation in Schuchuli, Arizona. NASA's Lewis Research Center (LeRC) is recognized as building the first city-wide PV system anywhere in the world. LeRC completes a smaller 1.8-kW solar power array for AID, in Tangaye, Upper Volta,. Later LeRC upgrades the Upper Volta system to a total of 3.6 kW. The energy crisis of the late 1970s spurs public interest in photovoltaics.
1982 – The Spherical solar cell, called “Sphelar”, is invented in Japan by Kyosemi Corporation. The “Sphelar” consists of a matrix of tiny sphere shaped solar cells.
1983 – Worldwide solar power I sup to 21.3 MW (megawatts) and sales pass one quarter billion.
1985 – At the University of New South Wales in Britain, the Centre for Photovoltaics Engineering develops 20% efficiency PV cells.
1986- American, Colonel Richard T. Headrick invents and patents the - 'Solar-Voltaic DomeTM'. The design is efficient for BI-PV, which is building integrated PV.
1988-1991 ARCO solar is sued into bankruptcy by AMOCO/Enron through use of Solarex patents. [Solarex Corp.(Enron/Amoco)v.Arco Solar, Inc.Ddel, 805 Fsupp 252 Fed Digest. ]
1989 – For the first time, light reflective soloar concentrators are used with PV cells
1990- The first known church solar installation is completed in East Germany, at the Cathedral of Madeburg.
1991 – Dye-sensitized PV modules are created based on more effective photoelectrochemical cells. The existing Solar Energy Research Institute is transferred to the new Renewable Energy Laboratory by President GW Bush.
1992 – Thin film cells with 15.89% efficiency are developed at the University of South Florida.

Below: This array in Dimbach Germany, based on thin film solar power modules, supplies 1.45 megawatts of power.


1993 – The Solar Energy Research Facility is created by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
1994 – The first 30% efficient PV cell is developed by NREL based on GaInP/GaAs two-terminal concentrator solar cell technology.
1996 – Dye sensitized photoelectrochemical PV cells are built with 11.0% efficiency by Graetzel, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. The USA establishes the National Center for Photovoltaics.
1998 – The role of the Utility Distribution Company [UDC] is decided in an historic joint agency decision between the Distributed Generation [DG and the California Public Utilities Commission (98-12-015 and 99-10-025, California Oversight Board 99-1-A-DG, California Energy Commission 99-DIST-GEN(1) and 99-DIST-GEN(2)).
1999 – Explosive growth in the use of Solar PV power pushes installed worldwide to 1,000 MW.
2002 - Pres. GW Bush directs the installation of two solar water heating systems and a 9 kW BIP PV panel on a White House National Parks Service building.
2004 - Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas issues mandate for 1,000 megawatts of installed renwable energy sources in Kansas by 2015 in accordance with Executive Order 04-05. This same year, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, proposes the Solar Roofs Initiative for 1-million solar roofs to be constructed in CA by 2017.

Speaking on the 2004 California Solar Roofs Initiative, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated: “My Million Solar Roofs Plan will provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gasses by 3 million tons..."


2006 – Photovoltaic cell construction worldwide usage of polysilicon exceeds all other types of usage for the first time ever. The $2.8 billion dollar, 11 year California Solar Initiative (CSI) program is passed by the Public Utilities Commission. US Government funded Boeing-Spectrolab builds a 40.7% efficient solar cell, pushing the efficiency of solar cells to new heights.
2007- The Google solar panel 1.6 megawatt project is completed in Mountain View, CA (the largest commercial PV installation in history at that time). 9,212 Solar panels covered two carports and eight buildings. The system produces enough energy to power 1,000 homes (30% of the Googleplex Office energy use). The Vatican announces plans to install a massive solar energy project that will “pay for itself in a few years”.
2008- From 1980 to 2008 solar power power production grows exponentially, doubling every two years. Tests performed by U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) test a new solar cell and confirm 40.8% efficiency (0.1% higher than in 2006). The PV technology tested is based on the inverted metamorphic triple junction solar cell, which was designed and built independently from the NREL.

A 1300 Gigawatt solar power farm is being planned for the desert outside Los Angeles (that's more power than a nuclear power plant). The series of projects, planned for completion in 2013 will deliver enough energy to power 845,000 homes.


In 2008 Spain led the world in Solar Power growth and below, one example is displayed. Just outside Seville Spain, 600 rotating mirrors send light to a 380 foot (115 meter) tall solar collector tower. Steam produced by the tower powers a turbine with 480 degree Fahrenheit steam generating 11 megawatts of power for the electrical grid. Abenga Solar of Spain has contracted to produce eight more similar towers. In total the towers will produce enough electricity to power 153,000 homes by 2013.



Go Back to Part 1: Timeline of Solar Power

If you read this first, be sure to check the link above for part 1.

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this timeline was helpful--i didnt realize solar power efficiency was only 1% early on, nor that it had improved so much

also, that solar power collection tower in spain looks crazy. i wonder if you could cook a chicken by hanging it up there...

seriously tho, i didn't realize spain was leading the world in solar power growth.

Yes, I think that's interesting too. Spain has definitely got an eye toward the future.