Video from the wayback machine, The Bell Solar Battery (a solar panel from 1954)

[OKIsItJustMe]

Follow the link for a film made 55 years ago…

http://techchannel.att.com/play-video.cfm/2011/4/18/AT&T-Archives-The-Bell-Solar-Battery

AT&T Archives

The Bell Solar Battery

04.18.11

The film opens by showing the sun as the basic source of power on earth -- making possible the growth of plants and crops which sustain life. The sun is shown as the source of mechanical power -- how it affects the winds and water power, and it is also shown as the source of the energy locked in coal and oil. Man's dreams of someday converting the sun's rays directly into usable power are realized, in part, when the solar battery (we'd call it a solar cell, today) was invented in 1954 by three Bell Laboratories scientists: John Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin. Here, the camera takes us into the laboratory, and we see how a "Solar Battery" is made and how it works. The film then shows how the solar battery may be used in the phone system as a source of power and explains that the battery holds great promise for the future in other fields as well.

Interestingly enough, Alexander Graham Bell was fascinated with the uses of solar power back in the 1800s. His photophone--a solar telephone--is an example of this. In a late interview in the 20th century, he speculated that people in the future may heat their homes with solar panels.

The first solar cell design from Bell Laboratories was tested in the field on a telephone carrier system in Georgia in 1955. The Bell System used 3,600 solar cells to power the satellite Telstar in 1962, and since then solar has been standard in design for space. However, it took decades for the price of solar cells to come down to where they could compete with other forms of energy--and they are still slow to be adopted in regions with strong sun patterns. Efficiency of solar technology has also greatly improved along the way.

…

[RandomThoughts]

1. Do you think everyone wants distributed energy production?

Solar, and wind for that matter, removes energy production and pricing from being controlled through a bottleneck of energy companies.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I think distributed energy production is great!

I also think utilities have a role to play.

For example, larger wind turbines are more cost efficient than smaller ones (there’s a reason why turbine companies keep building them bigger and bigger.) It doesn’t make sense for every home to erect their own wind turbine, rather than erect a few large ones outside of town.

Wind turbines work better in some locations than others.Let’s face it, if you’re living down in a deep valley, the wind isn’t as good as if you live on the great plains. To use wind in truly large scale, you’ll need transmission lines.


Rooftop solar is great for some, but not for everyone. If you live in the South West US, rooftop solar is more viable than if you live in the North East.

A large number of people live in apartment buildings. Where will they put their solar panels?

In my case, not only do I live in the North East, I live on the North side of a hill, surrounded by tall trees. (Please don't ask me to cut them all down.)

[RandomThoughts]

4. The range of 4 to 6

is not that dramatic of a spread.

You do make the point that apartment dwellers would not have the same opportunity to distributed power production.

It would also be more effective in rural areas where per square mile, less power is used, and there is more space for such generators.


If every house had a solar panel on its roof, and one of those non obtrusive wind power systems, I think there would be a change in need oil imports.

There is a place ofcoarse for public sector generated power, hydro, offshore wind farms, stuff like that.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. From 4 to 6 is a 50% increase

That's pretty dramatic.

[madokie]

2. Pretty interesting