First Solar Panel Invented

Charles fritts installed the first solar panels on new york city rooftop in 1884.

First solar panel invented. He even didn t imagine that his invention would help people prepare their dinner two and a half centuries into the future. 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. 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. It all started in 1839 with 19 year old physicist named edmond becquerel.

Already in the 19th century french engineers began to use a steam installation powered by solar energy for printing books. In a way many physicists played a part in solar cell invention. Courtesy of john perlin take a light step back to 1883 when new york inventor charles fritts created the first. Just 7 years later charles fritts an american inventor created the first solar cell by layering selenium onto a gold backing.

Therefore the credit for the invention of the modern solar panel cannot go to a single individual entity. In 1767 horace de saussure a swiss physicist invented the first solar oven.