The United States emerged from the energy crisis of the 1970s with a strong motivation to enhance energy security and develop nonpolluting sources of energy. Renewable energy (RE), particularly solar energy, was seen as a potential pathway toward a more diverse and sustainable energy portfolio. The Solar Energy Research Institute, later the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was established in 1975 to facilitate more intensive research and development of solar technologies (National Academy of Sciences, 1975). In 1982, the world’s first megawatt (MW)-scale solar power station was turned on in San Bernardino County, California (Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, undated-b).