Past, present and future of solar energy

1839. Alexander Edmond Becquerel (. Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. ) Discovered the photovoltaic effect.

1883. Charles Fritts (. Charles Fritts. ) Creates world's first solar electric module - Selenium is covered with a thin layer of gold. This combination of elements converts less than one percent of sunlight into electricity. We can say that this one per cent was the beginning of the solar energy.

1953. Gerald Pearson (. Gerald Pearson. ) By carrying out experiments in. Bell Laboratories. accidentally found that silicon is coated with certain impurities, is much more sensitive to sunlight than selenium. We can say that from that date, and started research on solar energy - created the first solar cell. ...

1957. USSR at the Earth's orbit brought the first artificial satellite in the solar.

In. 1958. this achievement was repeated and the U.S.. The cost of one kilowatt hour of energy was $ 500.

1970. The cost per kilowatt -hour was reduced to $ 100. At that time, all the satellites were equipped with solar panels, made of silicon-based. Efficiency at this time reached 10%. And roughly two decades, was held at this level.

1973. The cost per kilowatt -hour was reduced to $ 50 by the use of cheaper silicon circuit boards. Funding for many studies in solar energy has been minimized, as the price of silicon at the time was a luxury compared to oil prices.

1978. To support the telecommunications network in Australia were built ground solar stations.

1985. On solar energy work order 30,000 payphones across the California Highway. Were installed solar street lights - the day they accumulated energy at night lit up the streets. Also covered by solar energy bus stops.

1995. The cost per kWh of solar electricity down to $ 15. In all developed countries have begun intensified development in the field of solar energy. Governments have tried to as quickly as possible to reduce the cost of solar energy to the level of conventional electricity. At this point, the efficiency of solar cells was raised to 15%.

2004. Harvest 1 million kilowatts of electricity. Revenue from solar energy close to 6.5 billion dollars. First place in the ...

2005. Four of the five solar modules are installed in Germany, Japan and the U.S.. Compared with 2004, the market in 2005 grew by 35%.

2006. The cost of one kWh of electricity is $ 0.5. It is about 10 times more expensive than electricity from fossil. But scientists have already predicted in 2010 this cost will fall by half. And in 2030 - eight times from today's prices.

to. 2010. in Germany and Japan plan to annually increase the market of solar cells by 25%. By ... The solar energy market is booming. The country that goes to the maximum on the first solar energy, has excellent prospects for the future.

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