First selenium solar cell (Fritts)
Primera célula solar de selenio (Fritts)
- Date
- 1883 · confidence high
- Place
- New York, United States
- Credited to
- Charles Fritts
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Fritts coated selenium with a thin gold film and obtained continuous current when exposed to light, with an efficiency of about 1% or less. It was the first photovoltaic cell to be demonstrated.
Werner Siemens saw the invention as a violation of energy conservation until the photoelectric effect was clarified; efficiency was very low and it was not commercially developed.
What it led to
- selenium photometers
- research into the photoelectric effect
- a precedent for the Bell Labs silicon cell