Timeline of Solar Power
Solar power from the discovery of the photovoltaic effect in 1839 to worldwide deployment in 2025, including semiconductor research, solar thermal plants, public policy, manufacturing, and new cell designs.
- Category
- Engineering & Technology
- Tag
- energy
- Events
- 18 events 1839 – 2025
- Generated
- by gpt-6
1839: Becquerel discovers the photovoltaic effect
Edmond Becquerel observed that illuminating electrodes in a conducting solution produced voltage and current. The experiment demonstrated direct conversion of light into electricity, although useful power generation remained far beyond the device's capabilities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Becquerel1873: Smith finds selenium's sensitivity to light
Willoughby Smith reported that selenium conducted electricity more readily when illuminated. His work on materials for telegraph equipment connected light with the electrical behavior of solids and helped direct research toward solid-state light detectors and solar cells.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willoughby_Smith1883: Fritts builds a selenium solar cell
Charles Fritts made a solar cell by coating selenium with a thin layer of gold. Its low conversion efficiency limited its value as a power source, but the device showed that a solid structure could generate electricity directly from light.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fritts1905: Einstein explains light's discrete energy packets
Albert Einstein proposed that light transferred energy in discrete packets to explain the photoelectric effect. The theory helped establish the physics of interactions between light and electrons that later underpinned semiconductor solar cells.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectric_effect1913: Shuman powers irrigation with solar heat
Frank Shuman's solar thermal plant at Maadi, Egypt, used concentrating troughs to drive an engine that pumped Nile water for irrigation. The installation demonstrated useful mechanical work from sunlight before inexpensive photovoltaic electricity was available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Shuman1954: Bell Labs demonstrates practical silicon cells
Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson demonstrated a silicon solar cell at Bell Laboratories. Its substantially higher efficiency than earlier selenium cells made sunlight a usable electrical supply for small devices, though production costs remained high.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell1958: Vanguard takes solar electricity into orbit
Vanguard 1 became the first satellite powered by solar cells. Its solar-powered transmitter outlasted its battery-powered transmitter, demonstrating a valuable early market where reliable electricity and long operating life justified expensive cells.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_11977: A national solar research institute opens
The United States opened the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden, Colorado, following legislation passed after the oil crisis. The laboratory brought sustained public research, testing, and industry collaboration to solar technology development.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Laboratory_of_the_Rockies1984: California begins building commercial solar thermal plants
The first Solar Energy Generating Systems plant opened at Daggett, California. A series of plants used parabolic mirrors to collect heat for steam turbines, establishing commercial experience with large solar installations and supporting equipment suppliers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Energy_Generating_Systems1989: Australian researchers publish a higher-efficiency silicon design
A University of New South Wales team including Andrew Blakers and Martin Green published the passivated emitter and rear cell design. By reducing electrical losses at cell surfaces, the architecture improved silicon efficiency and later became widely used in manufacturing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Green_(professor)1991: Researchers publish an efficient dye-sensitized cell
Brian O'Regan and Michael Grätzel reported a solar cell using a light-absorbing dye on porous titanium dioxide. The device opened a research path beyond conventional silicon wafers by separating light absorption from charge transport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sensitized_solar_cell2000: Germany guarantees payment for renewable electricity
Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Act established priority grid access and guaranteed payments for renewable generation. Predictable revenue encouraged investment in rooftop and commercial solar installations, helping create a larger market for photovoltaic manufacturing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Sources_Act2009: Miyasaka's team introduces perovskite solar absorbers
Tsutomu Miyasaka and colleagues reported solar cells using halide perovskites as light absorbers. The early devices were unstable, but they launched a research program in materials that could be processed in thin layers and combined with silicon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell2011: Gemasolar stores sunlight as molten-salt heat
Gemasolar began operating in Spain with mirrors focused on a central tower and a molten-salt storage system. Stored heat allowed the plant to generate electricity after sunset, demonstrating how solar thermal generation could separate collection from electricity delivery.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemasolar_Thermosolar_Plant2015: China overtakes Germany in installed solar capacity
China overtook Germany in cumulative installed photovoltaic capacity. A country already central to solar-panel manufacturing, and the largest annual installer since 2013, also had the largest installed base, linking factory expansion with large domestic power projects and distributed installations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China2020: Bhadla completes a multigigawatt solar park
India's Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan reached its completed capacity of 2,245 megawatts. The project grouped multiple developers around shared land and transmission infrastructure, illustrating an approach to building solar generation at the scale of large conventional power stations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhadla_Solar_Park2024: Oxford ships commercial tandem solar panels
Oxford Photovoltaics announced its first commercial shipment of perovskite-on-silicon tandem panels to an American customer. Combining two light-absorbing materials moved the technology from laboratory demonstrations toward commercial power generation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell2025: Worldwide photovoltaic capacity approaches three terawatts
The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme estimated that worldwide installed photovoltaic capacity approached three terawatts by year-end. Deployment had spread across utility plants and distributed systems, making grid connections, storage, and demand flexibility increasingly significant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_photovoltaics