Photovoltaic Technology Sunny Side Up

The photovoltaic effect - a phenomenon allowing light-to-electricity conversion - was first described by the French physicist Edmond Becquerel in 1839. Albert Einstein was awarded a Nobel Prize for his theoretical work on the subject, published in 1904. Intensive research, spurred by the race to space from 1950 to 1969, led a number of companies to develop and bring solar cells, or PV cells, to the marketplace as of 1955. Vanguard I, the first solar-powered satellite, launched in 1958 and ran for eight years. Others followed. Solar power continues to be used as an auxiliary energy source on spacecrafts and to power orbiting satellites.

When it came to earthbound applications, the technology was slower to take off. The return on investment in the PV market did not justify the expense: grid electricity from virtually any other source - coal, hydro or nuclear - was, and still is, much less expensive. But over the last decade climate change issues have modified our perspective. The environmental problems associated with carbon dioxide (CO 2,) buildup have sounded an alarm: there is now a pressing need for new, non-polluting technologies as well as revived interest in older technologies that were passed over when cost and mass production were the primary considerations. And so, photovoltaic technology has risen from the dust of patent information stored and all but forgotten years ago. The "Global Photovoltaic Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020" highlights that worldwide PV capacity grew from 1.3 gigawatts (GW) in 2001 to 15.2GW in 2008. If investments and efficiency gains continue to grow at their current rate, a joint EPIA* and Greenpeace study forecasts that by 2030, PV systems will provide 2,600 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity or some 14 percent of the electricity needs of the world's population. Germany, Japan and the U.S. seem to be leading the market in PV installations, but the figures differ from one report to the next. Spain, having completed the installation of several large PV power plants, with a total generating capacity of 226.3 megawatts (MW) in 2008, laid claim to the number one position in January. But with individual installations and PV power plants mushrooming, the PV landscape is evolving at such a pace that the position of leader is a constantly shifting one. Most of the increase is due to financial incentives, which often come in the form of investment subsidies that refund part of the installation costs or in the form of feed-in tariffs where local electric utility companies buy PV electricity from producers. The PV market is not out of the grasp of the developing world. Research is bringing prices down and developing countries are benefiting. Solar power offers an excellent solution in remote areas too expensive or...

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