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The solar panel has come a long
way, but what about its origins.
Specifically, who came up with
the idea of the solar panel?
The name photovoltaic solar
panel is derived from the Greek
word phos meaning light and the
name Volta, after the Italian
physicist who developed the
concept of voltage. Combined,
this yields photovoltaic – of
light and electricity. The
credit for inventing the
photovoltaic solar cells is
generally given to Alexandre-Edmund
Becquerel, a French physicist.
However, equal credit must be
given to Charles Fritts, Russell
Ohl, and scientists at Bell
laboratories.
Becquerel first noticed the
photovoltaic effect in 1839;
light energy from the sun can be
converted into electrical
energy. However, the first solar
cell was not built for another
44 years. Charles Fritts, an
American, coated the
semiconductor selenium with a
thin layer of gold.
Unfortunately the resulting
device, while it did convert
light energy into electric
energy, had only about a 1%
efficiency rate. Combined with
the high expense of creating
this piece of equipment, the
invention was not practical or
cost-effective in generating
solar energy. What it did do,
however, was whet the appetite
of future scientists.
Russell Ohl was a noted
researcher in semiconductors. He
specialized in the study of the
properties of crystals. He
discovered the PN junction,
which showed how the impurities
in crystals impacted the flow of
electricity. From this work, he
was able to determine that
super-purifying geranium was the
key to making reusable
semiconductor material for
diodes. It was his work with
diodes that led to his creation
of the silicon solar cell in
1946. It was considered an
“accident” and occurred while he
was working at Bell labs on his
semiconductors. By infusing
silicon with certain impurities,
the silicon becomes sensitive to
light. Ohl’s work was considered
advanced and only understood by
a few of his colleagues.
Ohl’s work led to the production
of the modern solar cells. These
first photovoltaic cells had a
sunlight to energy conversion
rate around 6%. This generated
interest in geostationary
communications satellite because
the photovoltaic cells provided
the first viable renewable
energy source. Government
funding was then thrown behind
the development and improvement
of solar panels in order to
further the use of communication
and spy satellites. Bell labs
was source of much of the early
innovation related to solar
panel development.
From the work of a few extremely
advanced scientists, the world
now has over 200 manufacturers
of solar panels. Solar energy is
considered the most promising
technology for our future needs
of renewable and sustainable
energy. .
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