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(2) Edmund Becquerel (1820-1891)
Inventor of PV activity
(1) Cesar Becquerel (1788-1878)
Grandfather of electrochemistry
(4) Jean Becquerel (1878-1953)
A famous physicist who did research on
optical and magnetic properties of crystals
(3) Henri Becquerel (1852-1908)
Marie Curie's PhD supervisor and Nobel
Prize winner for inventing radioactivity
Figure 2.1
The inventor of the PV effect, Edmond Becquerel was the
second in four generations of a family of famous French physicists.
Table 2.1 A time line of PV solar energy technology
1839:
The PV effect was discovered by EdmundBecquerel when hewas 19 yearsold.
1883:
The first solar cell using elemental Se as the light-absorbing material was developed.
1916:
Millikan provided experimental proof of thephotoelectric effect.
1918:
Czochralski developed a method to grow single-crystal Si.
1923:
Albert Einstein won theNobel Prize for explaining thephotoelectric effect.
1954:
4.5% e
cient Si solar cells were produced at Bell labs.
1959:
10% e
cient Si cells wereproduced, and thesatellite
Explorer-6
was
launched by the United States with a PV arrayof 9,600 cells.
1960:
14% e
cient Si solar cells wereproduced by Hoffman Electronics.
1970s:
The first oil crisis kick-started the search for low-cost alternativesystems
for terrestrial energy conversion, accelerating PV research activities.
1980s:
Thin-film CdTe and CIGS solar cells were introduced into the mainstream of
PV research.
1990s:
Dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC) wasintroduced.
2000s:
Organic solar cellswere introduced to the PV field.
