Solar power when was it invented

Then in , Hoffman Electronics achieved 10 percent efficiency. Soon after, they beat their own record with 14 percent efficiency in These efficiency upgrades helped push solar panels into the space program.

Exxon funded Dr. With the long history of solar technology, it's notable that the real sea change for solar has been in the past few decades. Since the s, the cost of solar panels has dropped 10 percent per year on average. These improvements in solar technology and cost reduction are thanks to scientists and engineers dedicated to solar as a leading source of clean, low-cost electricity for everyone.

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For more information please visit vivintsolar. All Products. Electric Vehicle Charging. Why Solar. About Vivint Solar. Verify a Consultant. The potential for using the sun to directly supply our power needs is huge. Once made, solar panels can generate electricity without any waste or pollution. This means that there is no dependence on the Earths natural resources. They have no moving parts so modules are very reliable and have a long life span.

Also, solar panels are relatively easy to install and are very low maintenance. A useful characteristic of solar photovoltaic power generation is that any scale of installation is possible. This effect was first observed by a German physicist, Heinrich Hertz. In his research, Hertz discovered that more power was created by ultraviolet light than visible light.

Today, solar cells use the photoelectric effect to convert sunlight into power. In , American inventor Melvin Severy received patents , for an "Apparatus for mounting and operating thermopiles" and , for an "Apparatus for generating electricity by solar heat.

Almost a decade later, American inventor Harry Reagan received patents for thermal batteries, which are structures used to store and release thermal energy. The thermal battery was invented to collect and store heat by having a large mass that can heat up and release energy.

In , Reagan was granted U. In , William Coblentz, of Washington, D. Although this patent was not for a solar panel, these thermal generators were invented to either convert heat directly into electricity or to transform that energy into power for heating and cooling. By the s, Bell Laboratories realized that semiconducting materials such as silicon were more efficient than selenium. They managed to create a solar cell that was 6 percent efficient. The Anasazi in North America live in south-facing cliff dwellings that capture the winter sunlight for heat.

A year-old Frenchman called Edmund Becquerel, discovered what is called the photovoltaic effect, the physics behind the solar cell, while experimenting with a couple of metal electrodes.

French mathematician Augustin Mouchot was perhaps the first to look for an energy replacement to coal which he believed would eventually run out.

Mouchot invented the solar steam engines using a parabolic dish to concentrate solar energy on a water reservoir. English electrical engineer, Willoughby Smith published an article describing the photoconductivity of Selenium leading to the invention of photoelectric cells. Englishmen, William Grylls Adams and Richard Evans Day discovered lighting a junction between selenium and platinum has a photovoltaic effect - the first demonstration that light can produce electricity.

American inventor, Charles Fritts creates the first solar cells from wafers of selenium. Clarence Kemp invented and patented in USA the passive solar water heater. American physicist Robert Andrews Millikan provides experimental proof of the photoelectric effect as described by Albert Einstein in Albert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize for his research dating back to and technical paper explaining the photoelectric effect.

American professor, Dan Trivich was the first to make theoretical calculations on the efficiency of solar cell using different materials. Western Electric commenced selling licenses for solar-powered technologies such as dollar bill changers and solar powered punch card decoders. Solar is successfully used in space via the Vangua I space satellite to power radios. Solar eventually became the accepted source of power for space applications and that still remains the case.