What Is Photovoltaics?

This chapter discusses the birth history of photovoltaics (PVs). The first published observation of the photovoltaic effect was by a 19‐year‐old French scientist Alexandre‐Edmond Becquerel in 1839, possibly working with his father, the physicist Antoine Cesar. The US Signals Corps' William Cherry encouraged RCA to work on solar cells and in 1958 the Vanguard I satellite was the first practical application of PV, with less than 1 W of capacity. Later that year, Explorer III, Vanguard II, and Sputnik‐3 all carried PV‐powered systems. Solar cells are the core of a PV system, responsible for converting incoming light into electrical energy. Throughout the early PV era the cost of solar cells was relatively high, making solar modules the dominant element of a PV system. One approach to reducing system cost is to focus the incoming sunlight, using either mirrors or lenses.