The History Of Solar Panels

Since the beginning of life on earth the sun has been the ultimate source of all energy.

The history of solar panels.

The odeillo solar furnace located in odeillo france was constructed. The history of solar panels can be described by becquerel s discovery of photovoltaic effect or the invention of first solar cell by chapin fuller and pearson in bell labs. By 1975 that figure had dropped to just over 100 a watt. The history of solar power is not as recent as some may think as the technology has existed since the 19th century and has received substantial government support since at least the 1970s.

But as high tech as it seems the history of solar power goes back to the 19th century. Today a solar panel can cost as little as 0 50 a watt. The term solar panel is used colloquially for a photo voltaic pv module. Photo voltaic cells use sunlight as a source of energy and generate direct current electricity a collection of pv modules is called a pv panel and a system of panels is an array.

Despite vast amounts of subsidies solar power comprises less than 1 percent of us electricity generation. Elliot berman with help from exxon corporation designs a significantly less costly solar cell bringing price down from 100 a watt to 20 a watt. This featured an 8 story parabolic mirror. Since the year 1980 solar panel prices have dropped by at least 10 percent every single year.

A pv module is an assembly of photo voltaic cells mounted in a framework for installation. Let s look at the longer than you think history of this critical energy source for our future. In 1956 solar panels cost roughly 300 per watt. But the story is much larger than just that.