Dust in the Wind: An Historical Timeline of Soiling R&D for Solar Technologies
Abstract
This announcement marked a subtle change in the direction of our electricity future. The birth of modern photovoltaics (PV) traces only to the mid-1950s, with the Bell Telephone Laboratories’ development of an efficient, single-crystal Si solar cell. The inventors (Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson) did not envision that their 2-cm2, 6%-efficient solar cell would lead to our world of electricity projecting terawatts generated from this simple device. They did not really foresee the surge of manufacturing and deployment in Asia, the embracing of the green-energy benefits in Europe, and the paradoxical investment in these technologies by the petroleum-abundant Arab countries—nor the evolvement from those milliwatts of the 1950s to the multi-GW production of today. Within 4 years, this followed by the first market demonstration for PV—with the launch of the 1st solar-powered satellite—Vanguard I. This paper covers this author’s journey through this time period (having lived it!), through the birth of the U.S. terrestrial programs in 1973 (with the Cherry Hill Conference that reacted to the Middle East oil embargo), and the important R&D adolescence of the late 1970s and 1980s. The paper highlights the innovators and visionaries (including several ISES leaders), the major research contributions, and the initial terrestrial solar deployments that marked the early growing period for this technology. The presentation is highlighted by (video) interviews with some of these technical pioneers and leaders reflecting on the technologies and markets—and where they expected PV to be by the turn of the century (sometimes credible predictions, sometimes not . . .) . The paper provides a wealth of historical materials and artifacts to illustrate and link “what was” to “where we are”. The changing role of the government (the political influences) over this period is used to illustrate the importance of consistent policy and support for positive technology development. And despite all the fluctuations and issues, we will show how these beginnings have brought us closer “the realization of one of mankind’s most cherished dreams.” . . . stressing that the “future of photovoltaics” is already here!