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Who invented solar panels?

February 12, 2011 by 2016 Revision 7 Comments

Solar panels are used extensively or generating electricity and power throughout the world. Though the initial investment is quite high, the fuel is cheap and abundant produces hardly any pollution unlike the burning of the fossil fuels.  The solar cell technology is extremely old and work started on this way back in the 1800’s. The French physicist Antoine – Cesar Becquerel is credited with the solar panel research, in 1839. While he was experimenting with a solid electrode that was dipped in the electrolyte solution he was able to see a photovoltaic effect. He even saw a voltage develop when the sunlight fell on the electrode. The solar cell creation for the first time is credited to Charles Fritts, who used junctions that were created when the semiconductor was coated by a very thin layer of gold.

The earliest solar cells and panels that were created were extremely inefficient and the energy conversation received from the sun stood under 1%. Russell Ohl was the first inventor, who created the silicon solar cell in 1941. in 1954,  the three American researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin were able to create a solar panel that could the had the efficiency level of 6% with direct sunlight.

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Comments

  1. Covani says

    January 2, 2017 at 3:14 am

    A bit useful, a few typos and it would be helpful if you told when Charles Fritts created the first solar cell. And maybe go into depth about the 3 American researchers. Thank you for putting time into writing this piece.

    Reply
  2. anthony says

    March 24, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    I liked it but more of why did they build it

    Reply
  3. unknown says

    April 21, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    wtf

    Reply
  4. kaelly says

    November 22, 2017 at 2:02 am

    i know who invented but the question means that the information you gives doesent be irrelevant

    Reply
  5. Elissa Ross says

    June 8, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    Umm,hi I like this but I would like more information it literally is called “all you need to know about solar panels”.
    WTF?! It has so little

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. More than moon power! | Kozminski Techblog says:
    January 9, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    […] but the one of the first silicon based panels came out in the 1940’s, that was invented by Russell Ohl back in 1941. However it has a less than 1% […]

    Reply
  2. Marketing Your Solar Home: Proactive Ideas to Attract More Buyer Interest says:
    April 18, 2017 at 4:50 pm

    […] the development of solar energy began well over a century ago, with the first solar panels being invented way back in 1954. But even with such an extensive history, the number of homes that have solar power […]

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