The History of the Solar Panel Part II

[Richard]

The Solar Panel has a long and interesting history. In 1887 it was discovered that ultraviolet light changed the lowest voltage.

This discovery of Heinrich Hertz changed the voltage so that a spark to jump between two metal electrodes. Four years later, Clarence Kemp obtained a patent for the first commercial solar water heater.

In the 1950s, Architect Frank Bridgers applied this new technology in the world's first commercial office building. The technology has worked seamlessly since that time.

The building is now known as the Bridgers-Paxton Building. It is listed in the National Historic Register as the first solar heated office building.

By 1956, William Cherry worked for the U.S. Signal Corps laboratories. Paul Rappaport and Joseph Loferski worked for the RCA Labs.

These three men came together to discuss producing photovoltaic cells to propel orbiting satellites around Earth. A year later Hoffman Electronics were able to produce photovoltaic cells with 8% efficiency.

The next year many discoveries were made. T. Mandelkorn from the U.S. Signal Corps Laboratories fabricated n-on-p silicon photovoltaic cells which could resist radiation more effectively than previous cells.

Hoffman Electronics also continued to improve their photovoltaic cells and achieved 9% efficiency. Improvements in space instruments continued as well.

The Vanguard I space satellite used a small array to power the radios at the beginning of the year. Later, the Explorer III, Vanguard II, and Sputnik-3 all functioned using PV-power systems.

The silicon cell was commercialized repeatedly throughout this time somewhat unsuccessfully. However, it was very useful in powering satellites.

These silicon cells are still used for many applications in space today. By 1959, Hoffman's Electronics'photovoltaic cells became 10% efficient.

This year Hoffman also learned how to use grid contact which dramatically lessened the series resistance. Two satellites relying on solar power, the Explorer VI and the Explorer VII, were launched into space this year as well.

The next year Hoffman Electronics' photo voltaic cells jumped up to 14% efficiency. Silicon Sensors, Inc. also began to provide some competition by starting up in Dodgeville Wisconsin and producing selenium and silicon photovoltaic cells.

Two years later, Bell Telephone Laboratories launches the Telstar into space, which is the first telecommunications satellite. In 1963, Sharp Corporation produces a practical silicon photovoltaic module.

Japan also develops a lighthouse that uses a 242-watt, photovoltaic array. This was the largest array that had ever been achieved.

In 1964, NASA launches a spacecraft, the Nimbus, running on a 470-watt photovoltaic array. The next year, Peter Glaser develops the idea of creating a satellite solar power station for more efficiency.

NASA then launches the first Orbiting Astronomical Observatory in 1966. This Observatory is powered by a 1-kilwatt photovoltaic array.

This observatory was meant to gather information about the ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths produced by stars that are filtered out by the earth's atmosphere. Later that year, France created an eight story parabolic mirror which they named the Odeillo solar furnace.

In the 1970s Dr. Elliot Berman designs a solar cell that cost much less to make than the previous $100 a watt design. With help from Exxon Corporation, he creates a design that only costs $20 per watt.

As solar cells became cheaper, they began to be used for many other things. They started to be used for power navigation warning lights, horns, offshore gas and oil rigs, lighthouses, railroad crossings, and for other household items.

In 1972, the French put solar power to use by using a cadmium sulfide photovoltaic system to power a television at a school in Niger. This year the University of Delaware built the Institute of Energy Conversion in order to do more research and development concerning thin-film photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems.

This was the first official educational institution regarding photovoltaic related topics. The following year, the University of Delaware constructs "Solar One." "Solar One" was the first photovoltaic powered homes.

This first system involved a mix of photovoltaic and thermal power. The extra power gained throughout the day was fed into a special meter to be used at night.

In these ninety years, solar power came a long way. It began to establish a firm footing and usage in the modern world.

Terry Daniels has been working with alternative energy solutions for the past 10 year. He has written hundreds of articles dealing with solar power and alternative energy solutions. He recommends (http://www.simpleray.com) for sharp solar panels for.

[Richard]

Solar power only continued to develop and expand throughout the years. By 1976, NASA Lewis Research Center began to install 83 photovoltaic power systems throughout every continent except for Australia.

The new power systems provided old and new services at a larger scale. These services included vaccine refrigeration, room lighting, medical clinic lighting, telecommunications, water pumping, grain milling, and classroom television.

Even though teams worked on completing this project from 1976 to 1985 and began again in 1992, this project was not complete until 1995. In 1976 David Carlson and Christopher Wrongski from the RCA Laboratories created the first amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells.

By 1977, Solar Power had grown to become enough of a possibility to become a future form of power that the U.S. Department of Energy set up and began the Solar Energy Research Institute. The institute worked out of a "National Renewable Energy Laboratory" whose ultimate goal was to harness to power of the sun.

This year, photovoltaic manufacturing also began to be capable of producing more than 500 kilowatts. By 1978,NASA's Lewis Research Center became capable of dedicating an entire 3.5-kilowatt photovoltaic(PV) system to pumping water and providing electricity to fifteen homes until 1983, when it was replaced by grid power.

This was the world's first village PV system and it was installed on the Papago Indian Reservation. This reservation is located in souther Arizona.

Two years later, ARCO Solar achieves their goal of becoming the first company to produce more than 1 megawatt of photovoltaic modules in one year. The same year, the first thin-film solar cell exceeds 10% efficiency using copper sulfide/cadmium sulfide through research performed at the University of Delaware.

A year later, the first solar-powered aircraft was developed. This famous aircraft was called the Solar Challenger and it was able to complete its journey from France to England by flying over the English Channel.

It was able to achieve this feat with only 16,000 solar cells on its wings. These 16,000 solar cells provided the aircraft about 3,000 watts of power.

This development is memorialized in the Smithsonian Institute National Air and Space Museum with a photo of the "Solar Challenger" during its flight. The first photovoltaic megawatt-scale power station was not developed until 1982.

This power station was built in Hisperia, California by ARCO Solar. It had a 1-megawatt capacity system with module on 108 dual-axis trackers.

The same year, Australian Han Tholstrup drove the first solar-powered car 2,800 miles from Sydeney to Perth in 20 days. This was a whole 10 days faster than the first gasoline powered car had been able to make the same drive.

This car was name the Quiet Achiever. Tholstrup also became the founder of the World Solar Challenge, which is thought of as the world championship for solar car racing.

Later the same year, the U.S. Department of Energy partnered with other groups from the solar industry began working on the Solar One project. Solar One was a 10 megawatt central receiver demonstration project.

This project was simply meant to prove that it was possible for power tower systems based on solar-thermal electric or concentrated solar power to power a significant area. The project was finished six years later when the system became 96% reliable.

The German Volkswagen began to test the possibility of using solar power for the ignition system in 1982 as well. The solar power boards were placed on the roof of the car and could provide 160 watts of energy.

The Florida Solar Energy Center's "Southeast Residential Experiment Station" decided to provide engineering support to the U.S. Department of Energy's photovoltaic project. By the end of the year worldwide photovoltaic production also passed a total count of 9.3 megawatts.

Between 1976 and 1982, solar power capabilities and possibilities developed greatly. The production of solar powered items also greatly increased and new dreams for what the future could hold began to appear.

Terry Daniels has been working with alternative energy solutions for the past 10 year. He has written hundreds of articles dealing with solar power and alternative energy solutions. He recommends (http://www.simpleray.com) for sharp solar panels for.

[Richard]

The generation of power has come a long way since the beginning of mankind. It has evolved and developed until we have reached the age of solar power.

However, solar power has had a long journey in itself. By 1983, the ARCO Solar has dedicated an entire 6-megawatt photovoltaic substation located in mid-California to solar power. The substation encompassed a unmanned, 120 acre field that was filled with solar panels.

These solar panels generated enough electricity to power the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's utility grid. This is enough power to provide electricity for 2,000 to 2,500 homes in the area.

The same year the Solar Design Associates designed and constructed a home in the Hudson River Valley. The home was able to power itself through the 4-kilowatt amount of energy its solar panels were able to produce.

By the end of this year the total photovoltaic production throughout the world reached 21.3 megawatts. Solar powered product sales generated over $250 million in revenue.

The following year, 1984, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District approved construction of the first one megawatt photovoltaic electricity generating facility. Compared to 1983, the rest of 1984 was relatively unproductive in solar power advancement.

However in 1985 the University of South Wales finally breaks the 20% efficiency barrier for silicon solar cells under 1-sun conditions that had been hold back solar power efficiency for years. This was a big discovery that had tremendous impact on the solar power world.

In 1986 the world's largest solar thermal facility was built in Kramer Junction, California. The field not only contained the solar panels, but mirrors that were effectively placed to concentrate as much of the sun's energy as possible onto the panels.

This helped the heat transfer fluid to circulate, which then created steam and powered a conventional turbine that generated electricity. At the time, this was top modern equipment and theory.

Later the same year ARCO finished and markets the G-4000. The G-4000 was the first commercial thin-film power module that was available worldwide.

By 1988 Dr. Alvin Marks applies for and is granted patents for two of his solar power technologies. These technologies were referred to as the Lepcon and Lumeloid.

The Lepcon was made using glass panels that cover a vast collection of tiny aluminum and copper strips. Each of these strips was less than a micron or thousandth of a millimeter in width.

When the sun hit the metal strips, the energy from the sun was transferred to the electrons that are in the metal. Energized, the electrons are then motivated to escape down one end of the metal as electricity.

The Lumeloid was very similar, but infinitely cheaper. The Lumeloid used film-like plastic sheets instead of glass and conductive polymers in long plastic units as a replacement for the metal.

This year President George Bush decided to re-designate the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Research Institute as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This implies that the value and importance of solar power was starting to be realized once again.

During the year of 1992, the University of South Florida created a thin-film photovoltaic cell that was made from cadmium telluride and achieve 15.9% efficiency. This was the first time that the 15% barrier had been broken.

Later that year a 7.5 kilowatt prototype dish system involving the advanced stretched membrane concentrator had become functional enough to be usable.

In 1993, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company finished the construction of the first grid-supported photovoltaic system. This grid-supported system is located in Kerman, California.

The grid-system reached 500-kilowatts in power generation. This project was also thought of as the first 'distributed power' effort.

Solar power has come a long way for the time the idea was first to developed to actual, real life application using modern technology and research. As it continues to develop it can really enhance our lives.

Terry Daniels has been working with alternative energy solutions for the past 10 year. He has written hundreds of articles dealing with solar power and alternative energy solutions. He recommends (http://www.simpleray.com) for sharp solar panels for sale.