Page 56 - ISES SWC50

Peter Glaser

Figure 10: Peter Glaser, President 1967-1969

Peter Glaser was born and raised in Bohemia and educated in Czechoslovakia, England, and America. In 1955
he joined Arthur D. Little, a consulting organization in the United States, where he was a lunar scientist and
worked with imaging furnaces and space power systems throughout his career. He participated in the AFASE
Solar Furnace Symposium in 1957 and was active in Society matters for many years thereafter. In addition to
being President, he also was Editor of Solar Energy.

6.3 PV 1960-1969

Japan started to use solar power on marine navigation buoys and lighthouses. Hoffman Electronics attempted
to commercial photovoltaic powered navigational aids. PV continued to be the power of choice for space,
meanwhile individuals began to explore their use terrestrially with companies being founded to undertake the
R & D.

1960
• Hoffman Electronics achieved 14% efficient photovoltaic cells.
• Silicon Sensors Inc of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, is founded. It starts producing selenium and silicon
photovoltaic cells.
• The idea of bifacial photovoltaic modules is independently developed by Japanese scientist H. Mori and
Russian scientists A.K. Zaitseva and O.P. Fedoseeva. These bifacial photovoltaic modules have two active
surfaces and thus have the potential to generate more electric energy with roughly the same size collector.
• The first sun-powered automobile was demonstrated in Chicago, Illinois on August 31st
• In June the US Army Signal Corp demonstrated the first coast to coast two-way radio signal powered by
solar. It was from the corps station at Ft Monmouth New Jersey to El Monet, California headquarters of
Hoffman Electronics.
• Stanford and Iris Ovshinsky established Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) in Michigan.

1961
• American physicist William Shockley and German physicist Hans-Joachim Queisser became the first to
define the maximum theoretical efficiency of a solar cell using a single p–n junction to collect electricity
from the cell. The Shockley-Queisser limit is fundamental to direct solar energy conversion.
• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) held its first specialty conference on photovoltaic
energy in Philadelphia
• “Solar Energy in the Developing World” conference was held by the United Nations.
• The Defence Studies Institute organised a photovoltaic conference in Washington.
• Sharp Corporation launched solar powered transistor radio.

1962
• Bell Telephone Laboratories launched the first telecommunications satellite, the Telstar (initial power
14 watts).
1963
• Sharp Corporation succeeded in producing volume production of practical silicon photovoltaic modules.
• Sharp Corporation installed a solar powered buoy in Yokohama Bay.

1964
• NASA launched the first Nimbus spacecraft - a satellite powered by a 470-watt photovoltaic array.

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