Solar Development Cooperative

While most everyone else in the Nation will be preparing for a Christmas snowstorm -chilly weather and winter; those of us 'in the know' -and most importantly 'in the sun' will be preparing for the 1997 Orange County One Million Solar Rooftops Winter Gala 1997-2010.

This year a most historic decision took place -quietly with very few news articles or fanfare. On April 23rd, the first event took place with the public announcement of a One Million Solar Rooftops In The United States By 2010 Program proposed by the Solar Energy Industries Association. President Clinton encouraged support for this proposal in the American agenda with his public endorsement of the Million Solar Rooftops In USA Program
World Congress Earth Summit +5 June 26, 1997.

You may be asking yourself:

This is the theme for our first all schools Orange County, California poster competition with the top twenty-five winners to be featured at the:

All Schools Solar Winter Gala POSTER COMPETITION:
Entries to be on 20" X 24" posterboard

Progam Goal Number Two for 1997:
Establish A Foundation & Office In Orange County
For Special BI-PV Projects And Monitoring In OC

Program Goal Number Three for 1997:
Oraganize BI-PV Program for Orange County Christmas Lights Competition 1998

History of Photovoltaics

The science of photovoltaics began with the pioneering work of the French physicist Alexander Edmond Becquerel. He was the son of Antonine Cesear Becquerel, a prominent scientist who had done extensive research in the generation of electricity through chemical reactions. In 1838, at the age of 19, Edmond began to assist his father in his duties at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. During the following year, while conducting an electrochemical experiment involving two metal plates in a dilute acidic solution, he noticed that exposing the apparatus to sunlight increased the electrical energy it produced. Edmond Becquerel published his observations on this phenomena and is credited with its discovery. Willoughby Smith first observed the light-sensitivity of the element selenium. Through the use of a variety of filters, he discovered selenium's ability to conduct electricity increases in direct proportion to the 'intensity' of the light present. Selenium is a rare element and therefore the cells were quite expensive to produce. In 1954, Bell Laboratories announced the developments that finally brought photovoltaics out of the laboratory and into the realm of practical application.

At that time, Bell Laboratories were working on techniques for the refinement of silicon, a semiconductor material used in making newly developed transistors and rectifiers for converting alternating current into direct current. Silicon is a nonmetallic element related to carbon. It is second only to oxygen in abundance on earth with 27.7 percent of the planet's crust composed of silicon. Separated from the oxygen with which it forms silicon dioxide (silica) in rocks and soils, pure, solid silicon takes on a dark gray luster, which is in fact the color of all silicon solar cells beneath their anti-reflective coatings. Since 1974, the cost of photovoltaic cell production has reduced from $500 watt peak to under $5 watt peak and the introduction of dual use solar-electric building materials create the most promising economic, aesthetic form of demand site sustainable electricity in existence, today.

Orange County, California is rated as the one of the strongest markets for photovoltaics in the nation and in the world. Hawaii is number one due to its high cost of electricity at over 14 cents kWh. Orange County is one of the most promising markets in the nation for mainstream deployment of building-integrated photovoltaics due to the intensity and amount of sunlight combined with a high standard of living and wealth in the county. In light of these factors, the Solar Development Cooperative -Lighting the Way With Creation's Original Remedy has located their business in the area and is in the process of organizing a strong BI-PV service industry in Orange County.

QUIZ!---Education is a significant portion of our present work. We plan to have a Solar Winter Gala every year during the One Million Solar Rooftops Program 1997-2010 to educate and to celebrate the successes and explore the potential.