Solar panels are used extensively for 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[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] on this way back in the 1800’s. In 1839, French physicist Antoine – Cesar Becquerel was credited with the solar panel research.
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 was 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 then had the efficiency level of 6% with direct sunlight.
[/ihc-hide-content]
