CAS GE 522 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Solar Power In California, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Wind Turbine

• School: Boston University
• Department: Geography & Environment
• Course: CAS GE 522
• Professor: Rick Reibstein

Document Summary

1839: during the industrial revolution, french physicist alexandre edmond becquerellar first demonstrated the photovoltaic effect, or the ability of a solar cell to convert sunlight into electricity. 1888: the first all-steel windmill and tower was produced by the united states wind engine & It was the first electricity-generating wind turbine, which was invented in cleveland, 1974: f. sherwood rowland and mario j. molina reported their findings that cfcs (developed in the 1920s as refrigerants) were depleting the ozone layer. 1974: congress establishes solar energy research institute (seri), which begins operating in. 1977 (which is renamed national renewable energy laboratory in 91) 1978: federal government bans chlorofluorocarbons (cfcs) as propellants in aerosol cans because they destroy the ozone layer--montreal protocol. 1979: epa demonstrates scrubber technology for removing air pollution from coal-fired power plants, and the technology becomes widely adopted in the 1980s. 1997: the doe"s million solar roofs initiative spends 16 billion through 2005 to install 377,000 solar panel systems.