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Although harnessing the Sun's energy has fascinated the world's scientific community for centuries, it was not until the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 that the virtues of solar power leapt into the global consciousness.
The first conventional PV cells were produced in the late 1950s, and throughout the 1960s were principally used to provide electrical power for earth-orbiting satellites. By the 1970s, improvements in the manufacturing, performance and quality of PV modules helped to reduce costs and opened up a number of opportunities for powering remote terrestrial applications, including battery charging for navigational aids, signals, telecommunications equipment and other critical low power needs.
Following the energy crisis of the 1970s, significant efforts shifted to the development of PV power systems for residential and commercial uses both for stand-alone, remote power, as well as, for utility-connected applications.
In the 1980s, PV became a popular power source for some consumer electronic devices, including calculators, watches, radios, lanterns and other small battery charging applications.
In more recent times, the environmental costs of burning fossil fuels have seen the world's interest in solar energy systems gather even further momentum. With issues such as global warming and carbon emissions now scientifically proven and firmly on the political agenda, the demand for photovoltaic technologies is set to continue apace.
Today, the PV industry's production of solar modules is growing at approximately 30% annually. Major incentive programs in Europe, Japan and the U.S. are rapidly accelerating the implementation of building integrated PV power systems and interconnection to utility networks.
Here are some key milestones in the history of solar energy:
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