n as the solution, not the problem. Starting in the late 1970s, Verspieren initiated a solar water pumping program that has become the template for success in the developing world. Fewer than ten pumps powered by solar cells existed in the world when Father Verspieren installed his first in Mali. Now, tens of thousands power pumps on every continent. As one expert stated, “Thank you, Father Verspieren that today we have lots of solar pumps everywhere and for showing the international community that solar cells are an excellent power source for the people of Africa and the rest of the developing world.
1980s – Electrifying the Unelectrified
|A common sight in French Polynesia: solar modules on thatched roofs|
From the 1960s through the 1980s, experts planned to power rural parts of the developing world – where the majority live – according to the Western model: build centralized generating plants and by networks of wires transmit the electricity to consumers. But constructing such networks has proven too costly, leaving billions of rural people without electricity. These people have had to rely on costly and inadequate ad hoc solutions to light their homes and power their appliances such as kerosene lamps, automobile batteries and generators. In many cases, solar cells have provided to those living far away from electrical lines the means to obtain higher quality lighting and more reliable power. Since 1983, half of the households in the outlying islands of Tahiti have relied on solar-generated power. More rural Kenyans use electricity from the sun than that offered by the national utility. At least one hundred thousand families in Mexico, Central America and the West Indies run their lights, television sets, and radios with solar electricity. These successes has led the World Energy Council, the international organization of utilities, to recognize, “Solar cells for use at individual houses are a very important development that warrants particular attention as they are ideal for low-power rural applications.
1980s – Solarizing the Electrified
|Solar electric modules cover the rooftops of this apartment complex in Bremen, Germany|
When governments of developing countries began to fund solar energy programs in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, they favored large-scale, centralized solar-cell plants. Since engineers can tailor solar electric modules to any particular electrical need at the site of use, many came to realize that solar cells could allow each building to become its own electrical power plant by placing them on the roof. This would eliminate much of the capital costs inherent in constructing a centralized power plant such as buying land, putting up transmission lines, laying foundations and support structures and so on. Swiss engineer Marcus Real proved the economic advantages of the micro approach by selling 333 rooftop solar systems to homeowners in Zurich, Switzerland. After the success at Zurich, no one talks about centralized solar-cell plants anymore. Instead, governments are developing financial incentives to encourage homeowners to place modules on their rooftops. Architects and builders can use solar-cell material to build with, becoming facades, roofing, walls and windows. This eliminates a lot of duplication and extra work. For such reasons, Architectural Record lauds this approach as “a cost-effective energy option that architects should routinely consider.
1990s – Better Cells, Cheaper Cells
|Tubular octagons of crystalline silicon shaped in a die eliminate much of the expense of producing solar cells.|
As the price of solar cells has dropped over the years, they have become the least expensive power source for small-scale electrical demands located away from utility lines. Solar cells have also proven a cheaper source of electricity whenever people have to excavate to lay utility lines underground. Solar cells have therefore saved taxpayers millions in powering emergency call boxes along highways. When a new bus shelter goes up, cities have discovered that it costs less to install solar cells to keep