Timeline of solar power
From Timelines
This is a timeline of solar power.
Contents
Big picture
| Time period | Development summary | More details |
|---|
Full timeline
| Year | Event type | Details | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7th century BC | "In theory, solar energy was used by humans as early as 7th century B.C. when history tells us that humans used sunlight to light fires with magnifying glass materials. "[1] | ||
| 3rd century BC | "Later, in 3rd century B.C., the Greeks and Romans were known to harness solar power with mirrors to light torches for religious ceremonies. These mirrors became a normalized tool referred to as “burning mirrors.”"[1] | ||
| 20 AD | "The Chinese civilization documents the use of mirrors for the same purpose later in 20 A.D."[1] | China | |
| Late 1700s – 1800s | Researchers and scientists have success using sunlight to power ovens for long voyages. They also harness the power of the sun to produce solar-powered steam boats.[1] | ||
| 1873 | "In 1873, Willoughby Smith discovered that selenium had photoconductive potential"[1] | ||
| 1876 | "William Grylls Adams’ and Richard Evans Day’s 1876 discovery that selenium creates electricity when exposed to sunlight."[1] | ||
| 1883 | "1883, Charles Fritts actually produced the first solar cells made from selenium wafers – the reason some historians credit Fritts with the actual invention of solar cells."[1] | ||
| 1954 | " Therefore, some consider the true invention of solar panels to be tied to Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson’s creation of the silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell at Bell Labs in 1954. Many argue that this event marks the true invention of PV technology because it was the first instance of a solar technology that could actually power an electric device for several hours of a day"[1] | ||
| 1956 | Solar panels cost roughly US$300 per watt.[1] | ||
| 1957 – 1960 | " Between 1957 and 1960, Hoffman Electronics made a number of breakthroughs with photovoltaic efficiency, improving the efficiency record from 8% to 14%."[1] | ||
| 1958 | "n 1958, the Vanguard I satellite used a tiny one-watt panel to power its radios. Later that year the Vanguard II, Explorer III and Sputnik-3 were all launched with PV technology on board."[1] | ||
| 1964 | "In 1964, NASA was responsible for launching the first Nimbus spacecraft, a satellite able to run entirely on a 470 watt solar array."[1] | ||
| 1966 | " In 1966, NASA launched the world’s first Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, powered by a one-kilowatt array."[1] | ||
| 1973 | " In 1973, the University of Delaware was responsible for constructing the first solar building, named “Solar One.” The system ran on a hybrid supply of solar thermal and solar PV power. It was also the first instance of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)"[1] | ||
| 1975 | Solar panels cost drops to just over US$100 a watt.[1] | ||
| 1979 | United States President Jimmy Carter has solar panels installed on the White House during his term as president.[1] | United States | |
| 1980< | Solar panel prices starts dropping by at least 10 percent every single year. The plummeting cost of solar is largely responsible for the growing popularity of solar and the legitimacy of photovoltaics as a reliable energy source in today’s world.[1] | ||
| 1981 | Paul MacCready builds Solar Challenger, the first aircraft to run on solar power, and flies it across the English Channel from France to Britain.[1] | ||
| 1985 | "The next major achievement was in 1985 when the University of South Wales achieved 20% photovoltaic efficiency for silicon cells."[1] | Australia | |
| 1998 | The remote-controlled solar airplane “Pathfinder” sets an altitude record after reaching 80,000 feet.[1] | ||
| 1999 | " In 1999, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory collaborated with SpectroLab Inc. to create a solar cell with 33.3% photovoltaic efficiency."[1] | ||
| 2001 | NASA breaks record when reaching 96,000 feet with its solar-powered non-rocket aircraft.[1] | ||
| 2016 | "The University of South Wales broke that record again in 2016 when researchers reached 34.5% photovoltaic efficiency."[1] | Australia | |
| 2016 | Bertrand Piccard completes the first zero-emissions flight around the world with Solar Impulse 2, the world’s largest and most powerful solar-powered airplane to date.[1] |
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The initial version of the timeline was written by FIXME.
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