Article by Terry Daniels
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.
About the Author
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 sharp solar panels for sale.
Contact Info: Terry Daniels TerryDaniels09@gmail.com http://www.simpleray.com
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