the history of

solar technology

innovation and advancement

When Was Solar Energy First Used?

In theory, solar energy was used by humans as early as 7th century B.C. when history tells us that humans used sunlight to light fires with magnifying glass materials. Later, in 3rd century B.C., the Greeks and Romans were known to harness solar power with mirrors to light torches for religious ceremonies. These mirrors became a normalized tool referred to as “burning mirrors.” Chinese civilization documented the use of mirrors for the same purpose later in 20 A.D.

Another early use for solar energy are sunrooms. They use massive windows to direct sunlight into one concentrated area. Some Roman bathhouses were sunrooms.

In the late 1700s and 1800s, researchers and scientists had success using sunlight to power ovens for long voyages. They also harnessed the power of the sun to produce solar-powered steamboats.

When Were Solar Panels Invented?

The development of solar panel technology was an iterative one that took a number of contributions from various scientists.

Some people credit the invention of the solar cell to French scientist Edmond Becquerel, who determined light could increase electricity generation when two metal electrodes were placed into a conducting solution. This breakthrough, defined as the “photovoltaic effect,” was influential in later PV developments with the element selenium.

In 1873, Willoughby Smith discovered that selenium had photoconductive potential, leading to William Grylls Adams’ and Richard Evans Day’s 1876 discovery that selenium creates electricity when exposed to sunlight.

A few years later in 1883, Charles Fritts actually produced the first solar cells made from selenium wafers.

Who Was Responsible?

Solar cells as we know them today are made with silicon, not selenium. Therefore, some consider the true invention of solar panels to be tied to Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson’s creation of the silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell at Bell Labs in 1954.

Many argue that this event marks the true invention of PV technology because it was the first instance of a solar technology that could actually power an electric device for several hours of a day. The first ever silicon solar cell could convert sunlight at four percent efficiency, less than a quarter of what modern cells are capable of.

the evolution of

solar technology