While humanity has enjoyed the Sun and used its warmth and light since we began to exist, it wasn&#;t until the last few hundred years that we were able to harness the Sun&#;s energy for electricity.
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The development of solar energy technology first began with observations, and then it became a continuous process of developing useful technology based off of these observations. One of the most important discoveries began in . In a decade where the United States was only twenty-six states large and the sewing machine just began to be used, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel observed something interesting.
He noticed that some materials, when exposed to light, would produce small amounts of electric current. Becquerel experimented with this for a while, and documented his discoveries. Thirty-seven years later, William Grylls Adams and his student Richard Evans Day refined this discovery with the observation of selenium. Selenium produced energy when exposed to light, and these two men created a photovoltaic cell to harness and convert this energy into usable electricity. However, it was only a small experimental cell and not easily reproducible or cost efficient. It only produced electricity at 1-2% efficiency.
It was over 100 years later, in , that solar power became a real possibility. Researchers at Bell Laboratories patented the first practical solar cell, using silicon rather than selenium. The next year, these solar cells began to be sold. Though they were only 2% efficient, compared to an average of 18% efficient today, these sold for $1,785 per watt in the equivalent of dollars.
In the s and 70s, however, solar power began to be more practical. Efficiency levels grew to close to 10% with new technology, and the idea of renewable energy was becoming more and more popular. Further, space exploration was becoming a greater priority, and solar technology seemed like a useful alternative energy source for space travel. Solar-powered calculators and watches entered the scene. By the s, solar power was readily available to citizens, and federal acts gave incentives and tax credits to installing renewable energy in homes. In , sales of solar cells exceeded $250,000,000.
History since the s has seen continuous growth of the pervasiveness and quantity of solar energy technology. Countries around the world have instituted bills and laws to help provide solar energy for their citizens, and technology is only becoming more and more efficient and refined. Further, solar is much more readily available than it was when it first began. While prices used to be $1,785 per watt, they&#;re now predicted to be below $1 per watt by . Solar technology may have had a slow start, but it&#;s quickly becoming one of the most significant areas of technological advancement in our history.
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Recently, it seems like every day we&#;re making new strides in the transition to renewable energy and helping write the next chapter of our history. Yet, the truth is that technology that captures the power of the sun to make electricity has been around for a long time. We&#;re taking a deeper dive into the history of solar to understand the roots of where we are today and how we can supercharge the adoption of this fascinating technology as we work to decarbonize our economy. And rest assured, we will not be giving you a pop quiz at the end of this walk down memory lane.
In solar hit its first milestone when Edmond Becquerel (in the portrait to the left) discovered the photovoltaic (PV) effect, becoming the &#;father of solar energy&#; at only 19 years old. The photovoltaic effect is a process that generates an electric current when certain materials are exposed to sunlight. Fast forward to and we stumble upon the first ever solar cell, created by Charles Fritz using selenium wafers. At the turn of the century, Albert Einstein published a paper in on the photoelectric effect, further supporting the remarkably similar photovoltaic effect and bringing its potential further into the light.
Moving on to the mid &#;s, solar reached a pivotal point in when the collective efforts of David Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson resulted in the development of the first functioning silicon solar cell. They were able to achieve 11% efficiency with a cell the size of a small coin, and became the first to successfully convert sunlight into usable power. Shortly after, the U.S. government launched the Solar Energy Research Institute in , which led to worldwide solar initiatives as solar power started to become more mainstream. This traction allowed the first megawatt-scale solar PV plant (that&#;s the size of our first solar project in Jackson, TN!) to go online in California in .
Solar power hit a huge turning point when installed solar capacity reached 1,000 megawatts in worldwide in . During the early &#;s, solar energy became widely utilized as a fossil fuel alternative across the globe. Thanks to the amazing work of engineers and scientists alike, solar panels are constantly being upgraded to increase efficiency and affordability. You may be wondering what happens to older panels as their lifespan ends and they get replaced by new and improved ones. France developed the first solution to this issue in when they opened the first dedicated solar panel recycling plant where even first-generation solar cells can be repurposed to make new ones. This brings us to one of the latest solar power accomplishments in , when solar energy made up more than half of the renewable energy capacity globally.
Solar has come a long way in the past 183 years, and will continue to hit new milestones as we decarbonize the grid and make fossil fuels a #relicofthepast. Every solar project helps us get one step closer to having a carbon-free, sustainable future. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has already predicted that the growth of renewable energy capacity altogether will increase by over 60% and accelerate &#;in the next five years, accounting for almost 95% of the increase in global power capacity through .&#; This forecast is the &#;equivalent to the current global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined.&#; That&#;s why Clearloop is working to accelerate the efforts to build up new solar capacity and clean up the grid in the places that need it the most. We&#;re looking forward to even more sunny days ahead.
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