How Was Solar Power Invented?

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photovoltaic effect.

In 1839 Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect which explains how electricity can be generated from sunlight. He alleged that "shining light on an electrode submerged in a conductive solution would create an electric current". However, even after much research and development subsequent to the discovery, photovoltaic power continued to be very inefficient and solar cells were used mainly for the purposes of measuring light.

Over 100 years later, in 1941, Russell Ohl invented the solar cell, shortly after the invention of the transistor.