Mondo Knows Facts
The modern silicon solar cell was invented at Bell Labs in 1954
Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson built the first practical photovoltaic solar cell
In 1954, scientists at Bell Laboratories created a silicon p-n junction photovoltaic cell that converted sunlight directly into electrical energy with roughly six percent efficiency. Previous selenium solar cells had converted less than one percent of light. Modern solar panels employ refined variations of this fundamental silicon technology to power clean energy networks.
Where this comes from
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
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Tags: solar, photovoltaic, energy
The modern silicon solar cell was invented at Bell Labs in 1954: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson built the first practical photovoltaic solar cell. The figure is taken from National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a technology fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.