Page 237 - ISES SWC50

1990
• Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (ECD) and Canon Inc. established a joint company, United Solar Systems
Corporation, for solar cell production.
• Siemens bought ARCO Solar and established Siemens Solar Industries.

1991
• President George Bush redesignated the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Research Institute as
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• The Magdeburg Cathedral installed solar modules on the roof, marking the first installation on a church in
East Germany.
• Efficient Photoelectrochemical cells are developed and the dye-sensitized solar cell are developed
• BP Solar Systems was renamed to BP Solar International (BPSI) and became an independent unit within
the British Petroleum Group.

1992
• The University of South Florida developed a 15.9% efficient thin-film photovoltaic cell made of cadmium
telluride, breaking the 15% barrier for the first time for this technology.
• A 7.5-kilowatt prototype dish system using an advanced stretched-membrane concentrator becomes
operational.
• The PV Pioneer Program started at Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). It was the first broad
based commercialization of distributed, grid-connected PV system (“rooftop solar”).

1993
• Pacific Gas & Electric (PG & E) installed the first grid-supported photovoltaic system in Kerman, California.
The 500-kilowatt system was the first “distributed power” project to reinforce a weak feeder. PG&E found
that distributed systems like this have measurable benefits such as increased system reliability and peak-
shaving capabilities.

1994
• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a solar cell made from gallium indium phosphide
and gallium arsenide that became the first one to exceed 30% conversion efficiency.
• Japan started the “70,000 Solar Roofs” PV subsidy program, to increase the use of photovoltaic system in
the residential sector.

1995
• Thomas Faludy filed a patent for a retractable awning with integrated solar cells. This is one of the first
times solar cells are used in recreational vehicles. Later, this feature would become a popular way to power
recreational vehicles (RVs).

1996
• The world’s most advanced solar-powered airplane, the “ICARE2”, flew over Germany. The wings and tail
surfaces of the Icare are covered by 3,000 super-efficient solar cells, with a total area of 21 m .
2
• At the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Grätzel achieved 11% efficient
energy conversion with dye-sensitized cells that use a photoelectrochemical effect.

1998
• The remote-controlled, solar-powered aircraft, “Pathfinder” set an altitude record of 80,000 feet, on its
39th consecutive flight on August 6, in Kauai Hawaii. This altitude was higher than any prop-driven aircraft
thus far.
• Subhendu Guha, a noted scientist for his pioneering work in amorphous silicon, led the invention of flexible
solar shingles, a roofing material and state-of-the-art technology for converting sunlight to electricity
• Free Energy Europe (Netherlands) buys the a-SI manufacturing plant of NAPS-France.

ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions | 219