A common misconception about solar panels is that they are a new technologies. But scientists at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey know the truth.

Bell Labs Solar Panel, 1955

Over 50 years ago, a group of Bell Labs scientists released the first solar panels in order to provide phone service for rural farmers who lived off the grid. The reason? It was good business.

At the time (1954) Bell Labs was owned by AT&T. The company was the only phone service provider in the area and needed to find a way to satisfy its rural customers. When the electric grid expanded to rural areas, the panels were no longer needed.

Today Bell Labs is owned by Alcatel-Lucent, a voice, data and video communication service provider. The calendar has changed many times over, and so has the various applications for photovoltaic (PV) solar panels — from enabling AT&T expand its service coverage to helping property owners cut their electric bills and produce clean energy.

Now solar PV panels are returning home, as Alcatel-Lucent announced it would soon install a 1.2-megawatt (MW) ground-mounted PV solar energy system at Bell Lab’s New Jersey campus. The solar energy system will be capable of powering the equivalent of about 200 homes annually — and it falls in line with Alcatel-Lucent’s plan to cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2020.

Here’s Bell Labs president Jeong Kim:
“Alcatel-Lucent has made a serious commitment to environmental sustainability, and this is one step we are taking to honor that commitment. We are working on ways to help our customers operate their own networks with more sustainable technology, which is the focus of a great deal of research at Bell Labs.”

Solar panels made by California-based SunPower Corporation will be used in the installation. Bell Labs’ system is expected to be completed by next spring. For the next fifteen years after that, Bell will save an estimated total of $2.5 billion in energy costs.

Thanks to a contract with ConEdison Development, Bell Labs will not have to spend a single penny upfront for installation costs. As the developer of the project, ConEdison is leasing the six-acre plot where the system will be installed, and then selling the energy back to Bell Labs at a fixed rate. ConEdison will also own the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC) associated with the system’s output.