Timeline of Solar Cells - 2000-

2000-

• 2002 - President George W. Bush installed a 9 kW 'building-integrated photovoltaics' panel on the roof of a grounds maintenance building at the White House for the National Parks Service. Also installed were two solar water heating systems.
• 2004 - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed Solar Roofs Initiative for one million solar roofs in California by 2017.
• 2004 - Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius issued a mandate for 1,000 MWp renewable electricity in Kansas by 2015 per Executive Order 04-05.
• 2006 - Polysilicon use in photovoltaics exceeds all other polysilicon use for the first time.
• 2006 - California Public Utilities Commission approved the California Solar Initiative (CSI), a comprehensive $2.8 billion program that provides incentives toward solar development over 11 years.
• 2006 - New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology - New Solar Cell Breaks the “40 Percent Efficient” Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier.
• 2007 - Construction of Nellis Solar Power Plant, a 15 MW PPA installation.
• 2007 - The Vatican announced that in order to conserve Earth's resources they would be installing solar panels on some buildings, in "a comprehensive energy project that will pay for itself in a few years".
• 2007 - Google solar panel project begins operation.
• 2007 - University of Delaware claims to achieve new world record in Solar Cell Technology without independent confirmation - 42.8% efficiency.
• 2007 - Nanosolar ships the first commercial printed CIGS, claiming that they will eventually ship for less than $1/Watt. However, the company does not publicly disclose the technical specifications or current selling price of the modules.

• 2008 - New record achieved in solar cell efficiency. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have set a world record in solar cell efficiency with a photovoltaic device that converts 40.8 percent of the light that hits it into electricity. The inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cell was designed, fabricated and independently measured at NREL.
• 2010 - BP announces the closing of their photovoltaic plant in Maryland, moving all of their manufacturing work to China.
• 2010 - President Barack Obama orders installation of additional solar panels and a solar hot water heater at the White House
• 2011 - Fast-growing factories in China push manufacturing costs down to about $1.25 per watt for silicon photovltaic modules. Installations double worldwide.
• 2012 - 3D PV-cel with 30% more energy efficiency