Page 78 - ISES SWC50

7.3 PV 1970-1979

Though total production is small, many companies started manufacturing PV cells and modules predominantly
driven by the oil crises of 1973. Solar cells began to power navigation warning lights and horns on many
offshore gas and oil rigs, lighthouses, railroad crossings and telecommunication systems. The household solar
applications are viewed as sensible applications in remote locations where connection to the utility owned
power grid is not economical.

1970
• Soviet team led by Zhores Alferov developed the first highly effective GaAs heterostructure solar cells.
• Institute of Physical Electronics (IPE) was established at Stuttgart University by Werner Bloss and his
team of 15 scientists.

1972
• The Institute of Energy Conversion was established at the University of Delaware to perform research
and development on thin-film photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems, becoming the world’s first
laboratory dedicated to PV research and development. First director is Professor Karl Böer and he steps
down as director in 1975 to work full time at SES Incorporated which he founded in 1973.After a 12
monthssearch Dr Allen Barnett is appointed thenextfull time director of IEC .

1973
• From 1969 Dr. Elliot Berman had designed solar cells using lower grade silicon than those being used in
space and brought the price down from $100 a watt to $20 a watt by 1973. Solar Power Corporation was
established by Dr Elliot Berman with finance by Exxon. The company started commercial business in 1973,
when a sales office in Braintree, Massachusetts was opened.
• Dr Joseph Lindmayer and Peter Varadi founded the Solarex Corporation in Rockwell, USA.
• Karl Boer founded Solar Energy Systems (SES Incorporated) in Newark, USA.
• The University of Delaware built “Solar One,” one of the world’s first photovoltaic (PV) powered residences.
The system is a PV/thermal hybrid. The roof-integrated arrays fed surplus power through a special meter
to the utility during the day and purchased power from the utility at night. In addition to electricity, the
arrays acted as flat-plate thermal collectors, with fans blowing the warm air from over the array to phase-
change heat-storage bins. It was also the first instance of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).
• Skylab was powered by solar cells.
• Philips RTC pilots terrestrial PV Cells and Modules.
• Tideland Signal Corporation (Houston) was approached by Solar Power Corporation and developed
a solar power buoy. Tideland had 30% of the battery light market, Automatic Power which had a solar
patent had 70% of the battery light market that were being used on buoys and oil rigs at that period of
time. The solar powered buoy became very popular by end of the 70’s.

1974
• The establishment of the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) was approved by the US Government
though it would not open officially until 1977. This is the forerunner for the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL).
• Japan launched “Project Sunshine”, a broad R&D program in solar energy. The goal was to produce
new sources of clean energy by the year 2000. This encourages many of the large Japanese electronics
manufacturers to start PV research and development over the next few years.
• Solar Power Corporation convinced Southern Railway to trial a solar module powering a crossing signal
in Rex, Georgia. The railways were convinced when during winter grid power failed due to ice build-up on
the wires while the solar was still working.
• John Oades, a microwave system engineer with GTE Lenkurt (subsidiary of GSTE), built a low powered
microwave repeater and demonstrated the first one using solar power with the support of his boss
Bill Hampton. The first unit was bought by the Navajo Communications Corporation to connect to a
community in Mexican Hat Utah. Over the next 6 years 1000 units are sold.
• Professor Martin Green joined University of New South Wales (UNSW) (Australia) and started research
on solar cells and the research group years later became what is now known as UNSW School of
Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (UNSW-SPREE).

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