Timeline of Solar Cells - 1980-1999

1980-1999

• 1980 - John Perlin and Ken Butti's landmark book A Golden Thread published, covering 2500 Years of Solar Technology from the Greeks and Romans until the modern day
• 1980 - The Institute of Energy Conversion at University of Delaware develops the first thin film solar cell exceeding 10% efficiency using Cu2S/CdS technology.
• 1983 - Worldwide photovoltaic production exceeds 21.3 megawatts, and sales exceed $250 million.
• 1984 - 30,000 SF Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Roof completed for the Intercultural Center of Georgetown University. At the time of the 20th Anniversary Journey by Horseback for Peace and Photovoltais in 2004 it was still generating an average of one MWh daily as it has for twenty years in the dense urban environment of Washington, DC.
• 1985 - 20% efficient silicon cells are created by the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering at the University of New South Wales.
• 1986 - 'Solar-Voltaic DomeTM' patented by Lt. Colonel Richard T. Headrick of Irvine, CA as an efficient architectural configuration for building-integrated photovoltaics ; Hesperia, CA field array.
• 1986 - President Ronald Reagan removes solar panels from the White House.
• 1988-1991 AMOCO/Enron used Solarex patents to sue ARCO Solar out of the business of a-Si (see Solarex Corp.(Enron/Amoco) v.Arco Solar, Inc.Ddel, 805 Fsupp 252 Fed Digest. )
• 1989 - Reflective solar concentrators are first used with solar cells.
• 1990 - The Cathedral of Magdeburg installs solar cells on the roof, marking the first installation on a church in East Germany.
• 1991 - Efficient Photoelectrochemical cells are developed; the Dye-sensitized solar cell is invented.
• 1991 - President George H. W. Bush directs the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (transferring the existing Solar Energy Research Institute).
• 1992 - University of South Florida fabricates a 15.89-percent efficient thin-film cell
• 1993 - The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Energy Research Facility is established.
• 1994 - NREL develops a GaInP/GaAs two-terminal concentrator cell (180 suns) which becomes the first solar cell to exceed 30% conversion efficiency.
• 1996 - The National Center for Photovoltaics is established. Graetzel, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland achieves 11% efficient energy conversion with dye-sensitized cells that use a photoelectrochemical effect.
• 1999 - Total worldwide installed photovoltaic power reaches 1,000 megawatts.