First Solar Panel Created

Just 7 years later charles fritts an american inventor created the first solar cell by layering selenium onto a gold backing.

First solar panel created. While working on the coating of platinum electrodes using silver chloride he discovered a rise in voltage on exposure to light. Other major events in the history of solar energy. The big break though came in 1876 when william grylls adams along with his student richard evans day discovered that selenium an element discovered in 1817 would create an electrical current when exposed to light. Charles fritts installed the first solar panels on new york city rooftop in 1884.

Courtesy of john perlin take a light step back to 1883 when new york inventor charles fritts created the first. Therefore the credit for the invention of the modern solar panel cannot go to a single individual entity. Almost 50 years after the photovoltaic effect s discovery in 1883 american inventor charles fritz created the first working selenium solar cell. Russell ohl was the first inventor who created the silicon solar cell in 1941.

In 1958 the vanguard i satellite used a tiny one watt panel to power its radios. It all started in 1839 with 19 year old physicist named edmond becquerel. The first ever silicon solar cell could convert sunlight at four percent efficiency less than a quarter of what modern cells are capable of. Solar panels in outer space some of the earliest uses of solar technology were actually in outer space where solar was used to power satellites.