Timeline

The world is lighting up with solar power. As many European countries seek to become independent from Russian gas, solar panels are quickly becoming a popular alternative. Although it could be argued that all living things are solar-powered, here is a timeline of solar panel manufacturing.

1839

The photovoltaic effect is discovered

At the age of 19, physicist Edmond Becquerel was at work in his father’s laboratory when he first observed the photovoltaic effect— when an electric current is created after light exposure. Becquerel later became the Chairman of Physics at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, in 1853.

1883

The first solar cell

American inventor Charles Fritts manufactured the first solar cell, using a coat of selenium and a thin layer of gold, while living in New York city. Fritt’s cell achieved an energy conversion rate of up to 2%; nowadays, most modern solar cells work at 20%.

1860s

Solar power loses out to coal

Supported by the French government, maths teacher Augustin Mouchot conducted experiments on the conversion of solar energy, winning a Gold Medal at the Universal Exhibition. Sadly, coal was cheaper and Mouchot’s work was shelved. It’s hard to imagine how different the world would be now if solar power had been pursued instead.

1894

An apparatus for generating electricity by solar heat

American inventor Melvin Severy created a patent for ‘apparatus for generating electricity by solar heat’, which was able to produce an electric current throughout the day. A later patent from Severy was for using thermal energy in order to produce electricity specifically for the production of heat, light and power.

1954

Bell Labs first working silicon solar cell

Although a chemist by trade, Calvin S. Fuller invented the solar cell. While working at Bell Telephone Laboratories, he managed to diffuse boron into silicon to power the first ever working solar cell which was used in the space race in 1962. Fuller died at the age of 92, in 1994.