Existing comment:
Solarex photovoltaic panel, around 1980
A surge in oil production in coastal waters provided an unexpected market for solar cells. Oil companies initially used short-lived batteries to power navigation beacons on offshore platforms. Crews regularly hauled tons of heavy batteries to the platforms -- an expensive process -- and dumped the used batteries into the ocean. Solar panels like this one required little maintenance and lasted for years. Applications on land and at sea provided markets for solar panel producers that pushed research, lowered costs, and proved that solar cells were not solely practical in space. |