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1991
President George Bush announces that the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Research Institute has been designated the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
1992
Researchers at the University of South Florida develop a 15.9% efficient thin-film photovoltaic cell made of cadmium telluride, breaking the 15% barrier for this technology.
A 7.5-kilowatt prototype dish system that includes an advanced stretched-membrane concentrator begins operating.
1993
Pacific Gas & Electric installs the first grid-supported photovoltaic system in Kerman, California. The 500-kilowatt system is the first "distributed power" PV installation.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company's installed a 500-kilowatt photovoltaic system at its Kerman substation to reinforce a weak feeder. PG&E found that distributed systems like this have measurable benefits that include increased system reliability and peak-shaving capabilities.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (formerly the Solar Energy Research Institute) completes construction of its Solar Energy Research Facility; it will be recognized as the most energy-efficient of all U.S. government buildings in the world.
1994
The first solar dish generator to use a free-piston Stirling engine is hooked up to a utility grid.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory develops a solar cell made of gallium indium phosphide and gallium arsenide; it's the first one of its kind to exceed 30% conversion efficiency.
1996
The world's most advanced solar-powered airplane, the Icare, flies over Germany. 3,000 super-efficient solar cells, for a total area of 21 square meters, cover its wings and tail surfaces.
The U.S. Department of Energy and an industry consortium begin operating Solar Two — an upgrade of the Solar One concentrating solar power tower. Until the project's end in 1999, Solar Two demonstrates how solar energy can be stored efficiently and economically so power is produced even when the sun isn't shining; it also spurs commercial interest in power towers.
The Solar Two project improved the 10-megawatt Solar One central receiver plant in Daggett, California. A field of mirrored heliostats focused sunlight on a 300-foot (91-meter) tower filled with molten salt, which could be heated to 1050�F. The salt was pumped through a generator and the resulting steam powered a conventional, high-efficiency turbine to produce electricity.
1998
On August 6, a remote-controlled, solar-powered aircraft, "Pathfinder," sets an altitude record of 80,000 feet on its 39th consecutive flight in Monrovia, California — higher than any prop-driven aircraft to date.
Subhendu Guha, a scientist noted for pioneering work in amorphous silicon, leads the invention of flexible solar shingles, a roofing material and state-of-the-art technology for converting sunlight to electricity on buildings.
Photovoltaic shingles are mounted directly onto a roof, taking the place of asphalt
shingles. The PV system is connected to the utility grid through an inverter and produces electricity on the customer's side of the meter.
1999
Construction is completed on 4 Times Square in New York, the tallest skyscraper built in the city in the 1990s. It has more energy-efficient features than any other commercial skyscraper and includes building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels on the 37th through the 43rd floors on the south- and west-facing facades to produce part of the building's power.
4 Times Square's most advanced feature is its photovoltaic "skin," in which thin-film PV panels replace traditional glass cladding material. The PV curtain wall extends from the 37th to the 43rd
Spectrolab, Inc., and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory develop a 32.3% efficient solar cell. The high efficiency results from combining three layers of photovoltaic materials into a single cell, which is most efficient and practical in devices with lenses or mirrors to concentrate the sunlight. The concentrator systems are mounted on trackers to keep them pointed toward the sun.
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory develop a record-breaking prototype solar cell that measures 18.8% efficient, topping the previous record for thin-film cells by more than 1%. Cumulative installed photovoltaic capacity reaches 1000 megawatts, worldwide.
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