What was the year Solar Energy was invented?
What was the year Solar Energy was invented?
The history of solar energy began in 1954 with just a few small steps, led by inventors and scientists. The 20th century was when, the space and defense industries realized the potential of solar energy. By then it was an attractive however, it was still a costly alternative to fossil fuels. The technology has advanced and is today a viable and affordable technology that is quickly replacing coal, oil, as well as natural gas, in the current energy market. This timeline highlights the key people and events that contributed to the advancement of solar technology.
The Age of Discovery (19th-20th century)
The mid-19th century saw the beginning of physics, with discoveries in electricity, magnetism along with the science of light. Scientists and inventors laid the foundation for the majority of the development in the field of solar energy.
1839: A 19-year old Frenchman Alexandre-Edmond becquerel creates the first solar cell in the world.1 His researches on electricity and light inspired the development of photovoltaics in the following years. In the European Photovoltaic Sun Energy Conference and Exhibition award the Becquerel award each year.
The year is 1861. Auguste (or Augustin), a mathematician and physicist, patents the solar motor.
1873: Willoughby S. Smith, an electrical engineer, discovers photovoltaic effects in selenium.
1876: W. G. Adams (professor of Natural Philosophy, King’s College London) discovers that the resistance to electricity of selenium is subject to radiation either from light or heat action. “2
1882. Abel Pifre creates a “solar engine”, which generates enough power to power his solar printing press. (pictured below)
In 1883, Charles Fritts, an inventor, designs the first solar cells made of silver and. It converts solar radiation to electricity at a mere one percent efficiency.
1883: John Ericsson, an inventor, creates the sun motor, which uses the construction of parabolic tubes (PTC) to concentrate sunlight to generate boiler steam. PTC is still employed to power solar thermal plants.
1884: Charles Fritts places solar panels on the roof of a New York City rooftop.
1903: Aubrey Eneas, a Pasadena-based entrepreneur, launches 1903: The Solar Motor Company to market solar-powered steam engines for irrigation projects. The company soon fails.
1912-1913: Frank Shuman, an engineer at the Sun Power Company, uses PTC to build the world’s first solar-powered power station in the world.
The Age of Understanding Solar Panels (late-19th-early-20th centuries)
Theoretical physics of the present has helped to improve our understanding of photovoltaic electricity. Quantum Physics’ description of the subatomic worlds of electrons as well as photons reveals the mechanism by the light-emitting particles disrupt electrons within silicon crystals, causing electrical currents.
1888: Wilhelm Hallwachs, a scientist and physicist, explains the physics behind photovoltaic cells. This is what we now refer to as”the” Hallwachs Effect.
1905: Albert Einstein publishes, “On an Heuristic Perspective on the Production and Transformation of Light,” explaining how light produces an electrical current through knocking electrons from certain metal atoms.
1916. Jan Czochralski, a scientist, comes up with a method to create single crystals from metal. This is the basis of the creation of semiconductor wafers. They remain in use in electronics or solar cells.
1917. Albert Einstein provides a theoretic basis for photovoltaics. He introduces the idea that light is an electromagnetic wave that is carried by a packet.
1929: Gilbert Lewis, a scientist and physicist, invented the term “photons”, to describe the electromagnetic energy of Einstein’s packets.
Age of Solar Technology Development (mid-20th Century)
The laboratory has become no more the ideal place to conduct serious research into the advancement of solar energy technology that is based on the discovery the monocrystalline silicon-based cells. It’s similar to other technologies. It was developed from research done to support U.S. defense and aerospace industries. The first application that has been successful of the technology is satellites and space exploration. Even though solar energy is extremely effective, most of its technology cannot be commercialized.
1941: Russell Ohl, a Bell Laboratories engineer, files a patent application for the first monocrystalline silicon-based solar cell.
1947: The post-war shortage of energy is what makes passive solar houses so popular.
1951: The first solar cells made of germanium are constructed.
1954: The first silicon solar cell is made in 1954 by Bell Laboratories. These cells, while weaker than the current cell, produce significant amounts of electricity, at around 4 percent efficiency.
1955: First solar-powered phone call made.
1956: The first solar-powered radio was launched through General Electric. It is able to operate in dark and daylight.
1958: Vanguard I, the first spacecraft powered by solar power, is launched.
1960: A car equipped that had a rooftop solar panel, which was powered by a battery of 72 volts. It was driven through London, England.
The year 1961 was the Year of the Conference arranged by the United Nations on solar energy for the developing world.
1962: Telstar is the world’s first satellite-powered solar communications satellite, runs on 3,600 solar cells that were manufactured by Bell Laboratories.
1967: Soviet Union’s Soyuz 1 is the first spacecraft that is powered by solar energy to transport humans.
1972 1972: The Synchronar 2100 solar-powered watch goes for sale.
Age of Solar Power Growth (late-20th century)
First commercializations in solar technologies were triggered through the economic crisis in the 1970s. The low prices for oil and the low economic growth a consequence of a lack of crude oil within industrialized countries. In the U.S., U.S. government provides financial incentives to residential and commercial solar systems Research and development institutes, demonstration projects that use solar energy in government buildings, as well being regulatory structures to support the current solar market. Solar panels are more affordable than ever before, starting at $1,865 per watt back in 1956, to $106 per watt in the year 1976 (prices were adjusted for the current price in 2019 dollars).
1973: A crude oil embargo imposed by Arab nations drives prices for oil up by 300 percent
1973: Solar One is built by the University of Delaware, which is the first building to be powered entirely with solar energy.
1974: The Solar Heating and Cooling Demonstration Act allows the utilization of solar energy in federal structures.
1974: In order to research and forecast the market for energy, the International Energy Agency was established.
1974: U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration is created to help promote commercialization and advancement in solar energy.
1974: The Solar Energy Industries Association is created to represent the interests and needs in the industry of solar.
1977: Congress establishes the Solar Energy Research Institute. It is now called”the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
1977 The photovoltaic cell is produced in excess of 500 kW worldwide.
1977: Creation of the U.S. Department of Energy.
1978 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), that established net metering obliges utilities to purchase electric power from “qualifying institutions” that meet specific energy source and efficiency standards.
1978: The Energy Tax Act created the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) as well as the Residential Energy Credit in order to encourage the purchase of solar panels.
1979: Exports of oil from the Middle East are interrupted by the Iranian Revolution, which forces oil prices to go up.
1979. U.S. President Jimmy Carter installs solar panels on the White House roof. The panels were later removed by the president Ronald Reagan.
1981: The very first concentrated PV system is put into operation, with funding from Saudi Arabia and the United States of America and Saudi Arabia.
1981: 1981: The Solar Challenger is the first solar-powered aircraft that can fly across large distances.
1981 1982: In 1981, the U.S. Department of Energy concludes Solar One, a pilot project to harness renewable energy from solar within the Mojave Desert, near Barstow.
1982 The year 1982 saw the construction of the first solar farm of a large scale near Hesperia in California.
1982 1982: In 1982, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District appointed its first solar power plant.
1985: Cells made of silicon with a 20% efficiency were created at the University of New South Wales in Australia’s Center for Photovoltaic Engineering.
1985: Development of lithium-ion batteries which can be used later for storage of renewable power.
1991 commercial manufacturing of the very first lithium-ion batteries.
1993: Congress makes the Investment Tax Credit permanent.
2000: Germany establishes a feed in tariff program to boost production of solar panels.
Time of Solar Cells Maturity (21st Century)
It is a complex but sound technology that has been embraced by the government to ensure it is the most affordable energy in history. The reason for its success is the S-curve. This means that, while the initial growth in a technology has been slow due to a small number of those who are early adopters, it will experience rapid growth as economies scale permits production costs to fall and supply chains to grow. In the year 2019, solar modules were priced at $106/watt. They are now $0.38/watt. The majority of the decline is since 2010.
2001: Home Depot starts selling solar panels for residential use.
2001. Suntech Power, a Chinese company founded in China and then becomes a global leading solar company.
2006. California Public Utilities Commission approves California Solar Initiative, which gives incentives to solar development.
2008. NREL establishes a new world record in solar cell efficiency by achieving 40.8 percent.
2009: Inauguration of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
2009: 2009: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act offers $90 billion in green energy projects and tax incentives. The legislation includes guarantees for loans and subsidies.
2009. China introduces tariffs on feed-ins in order to boost expansion in the renewable energy industry.
2010 The former President Obama put up solar panels and a solar water heater in the White House.
2011. Solyndra bankruptcy, investment scandal slows solar industry growth
2013 The world’s 100 biggest solar PV installations exceed 100 gigawatts.
2015. Tesla announces its lithium-ion Powerwall Battery Pack to enable solar rooftop users to keep their electricity.
2015: China exceeds Germany to become the world’s top country in solar capacity for the solar system.
The year 2015 is here: Google Launches Project Sunroof to help homeowners evaluate the possibility roof solar.
2016: One million solar installations across the United States.
The year 2016 is the year that Solar Impulse 2 makes the first zero-emissions flight in the world.
2016, Las Vegas (Nevada) is the first American city administration to operate entirely by renewable energy. It includes solar panel, trees and at City Hall.
2017: In the United States, solar energy employs more workers than any other industry that relies on fossil fuels.
2019 The first floating solar farm off the coast of the Dutch North Sea.
2020: Building a new solar power plant is more affordable than operating an existing coal power plant.
2020: California will require all new homes to have solar panels by 2020.
2020 2020: According to the International Energy Agency, “Solar is now the reigning king of the electricity market.”
2021: Apple, Inc. announced that it would be creating the largest lithium-ion battery ever built to produce electricity from its California solar farm that is 250 megawatts.
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