ABSTRACT
The successful utilization of Photovoltaic (PV) cells to supply the electric needs of satellites used for various purposes gave the idea and an assurance that PV could also be used successfully for large scale terrestrial applications. The obvious problem was that at that time the price of PV cells made for the satellites was about $300/Wp.1 By 1972, several of the US government organizations, which had needs for telecommunication in remote areas, decided to try to use PV systems to power those equipment. The two US manufacturers of solar cells and panels for space use, Heliotek (Spectrolab) and Centralab, both located in California, were contacted to supply PV cells connected in a module to provide 12 V dc power. Obviously the price of the space solar cells at that time was still over $100/Wp and therefore to use them for these terrestrial applications was not feasible, only PV cells which were rejects for space could be used. The amount of these rejects were not much and only a very few experimental telecommunication systems were made.
