Solar Power World

  • Home
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Articles
    • Most Recent Posts
    • News
      • Latest News Items
      • Solar tariffs
    • Featured
      • Latest Feature Stories
      • Contractor’s Corner
      • Trends in Solar
      • The Solar Explorer
  • Policy
    • Monthly Snapshots
  • Markets
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Community Solar
    • Utility
  • Products
    • 2021 Top Products
    • Batteries and Storage
    • Inverters
      • Global Manufacturing Locations
    • Racking and Mounting
    • Software
    • Solar Panels
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
      • Global Manufacturing Locations
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
    • About SPW
    • Digital Issues
    • Event Coverage
    • Podcasts
    • Product Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Inverter Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Solar Panel Manufacturing Locations
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
    • Solar Classrooms
    • Suppliers
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
  • Leadership
    • Vote for the 2022 Leaders!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 Winners
    • 2018 Winners

Paying Homage: 23 Solar Pioneers Whose Names You SHOULD Know

By Frank Andorka | May 16, 2013

Share

10. Charles Fritts

 

1883 —Charles Fritts, an American inventor, was the first to conceive the idea of solar energy. In 1883, he coated the semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold. The resulting cell had a conversion efficiency of only about 1%. Additionally, the hefty cost of the materials prevented the cells from being made in large quantities. Today, however, Fritts’ discovery has led to solar cells that are over 20% efficient.

 

1883 — Charles Fritts, an American inventor, was the first to conceive the idea of solar energy. In 1883, he coated the semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold. The resulting cell had a conversion efficiency of only about 1%. Additionally, the hefty cost of the materials prevented the cells from being made in large quantities. Today, however, Fritts’ discovery has led to solar cells that are over 20% efficient.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Comments

  1. Jake Welford says

    July 3, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    Walter T Welford’s pioneering work in 1978 is still being referenced today as being influential.https://www.abebooks.com/Optics-Nonimaging-Concentrators-Light-Solar-Energy/21371628899/bd

    He was honoured to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Physics (like Einstein & Newton) based on some of this work.

    Reply
  2. CA Solar Systems says

    February 17, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    Number 10: Definitely one of the most influential!

    John M
    California Solar Systems
    http://855casolar.com

    Reply
  3. Nancy Hiler says

    December 30, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Hi,

    I was very surprised to see that the “Father of Modern Solar Energy” Stanford R. Ovshinsky (1922-2012), the physicist and inventor who had been granted some 400 patents over the course of his life, most related to energy, many related to solar energy. His most famous invention was of continuous web multi-junction flexible thin-film photovoltaic laminates and panels — amorphous thin-film solar cells, for short, consisting of many thin, flexible layers in sheets. Thin-film, versus bulk silicon (also called crystalline) panels, which is what most of us have on our rooftops today, have the advantage of being flexible and very low in weight, suitable particularly for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) uses.

    Reply
  4. patb2009 says

    May 25, 2013 at 6:32 pm

    I”m surprised you left off Stan Ovishinsky.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_R._Ovshinsky#Energy_Conversion_Laboratory

    Stan did tremendous work in thin films, amorphous and low cost PV.

    Reply
  5. arne-nl says

    May 25, 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Hermann Scheer, who masterminded the German EEG that kickstarted the mass production and caused the massive price drops of the past few years.

    Reply
  6. solardell says

    May 20, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    I guess this is not who youshould know in Solar but who in PV. There are over 300 MW of solar thermal installed each year in North America. Albeit not a “cool” as PV but Solar non the less. There were guys like George Lof, Freeman Ford, Wm Bailey,Bud Carruthers. I’m just saying there is a Solar technology that is still delivering solar energy at less than 5 cents per kWh….solar thermal 🙂

    Reply
  7. Naked In Space says

    May 20, 2013 at 2:56 pm

    (Smith) …and the first scientist to pioneer the use of sideburns as effective solar collectors.

    Reply
  8. Naked In Space says

    May 20, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    (Becquerel) And a very impressive NHL playoff beard going on as well…(go kings)

    Reply
  9. Naked In Space says

    May 20, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Well, you may not know it…but at least other people do.

    Reply
  10. Frédéric C. Siros says

    May 19, 2013 at 2:19 pm

    His actual name is Augustin Mouchot. He wrote a book “La chaleur solaire et ses applications industrielles” (I don’t know if it was translated in English) that can be bought on line.

    Reply
    • Frank Andorka says

      May 20, 2013 at 9:11 am

      Frédéric:

      Thanks for letting us know. We took his name from the Department of Energy website, so we apologize for getting it wrong. We have fixed it on the page (see above).

      For the record, I translated the title of his book for you:

      Solar heat and its industrial applications

      Thanks again for the information. We truly do appreciate it.

      Reply
  11. Barry Johnston @GreenGrounded says

    May 17, 2013 at 10:53 am

    Kerr MacGregor: Scotland’s solar pioneer!
    Bio: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/09/kerr-macgregor-obituary
    Video:http://youtu.be/-rgIIHvjcw0

    Reply
  12. Second Silicon says

    May 16, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    Number 22: Elon Musk? He probably won’t bring forth a new scientific discovery. Not that he hasn’t earned his bones in scientific research. But like an Andrew Carnegie or a Steve Jobs. I think Elon will be included on this list in the future for helping solar become more mainstream via Solar City and his especially with his work at Tesla.

    Reply
    • Frank Andorka says

      May 16, 2013 at 12:35 pm

      Approve.

      Reply

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

Related Articles Read More >

California Energy Commission to give grants to cities, counties that adopt SolarAPP+
Ingeteam unveils 7.65-MW inverter power station on skid
CPS America opens new U.S. headquarters near Dallas, Texas
Even with Biden’s two-year tariff pause, WoodMac still expects solar markets to be down this year and next

SPW Digital Editions

Solar Power World Digital EditionBrowse the current issue and archived issues of Solar Power World in an easy-to-use, high-quality format. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading solar construction magazine today.

Contractor's Corner Podcast

June 27, 2022
Contractor's Corner: Got Electric
See More >

Solar Policy Snapshot

Solar policy differs across state lines and regions. Click to see our monthly roundup of recent legislation and research throughout the country.

Read More >

Solar Power World
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Solar Articles
  • Windpower Engineering & Development
  • Battery Power Tips
  • Top Products
  • Leadership
  • About/Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising
  • WTWH Media

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Solar Power World

  • Home
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Articles
    • Most Recent Posts
    • News
      • Latest News Items
      • Solar tariffs
    • Featured
      • Latest Feature Stories
      • Contractor’s Corner
      • Trends in Solar
      • The Solar Explorer
  • Policy
    • Monthly Snapshots
  • Markets
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Community Solar
    • Utility
  • Products
    • 2021 Top Products
    • Batteries and Storage
    • Inverters
      • Global Manufacturing Locations
    • Racking and Mounting
    • Software
    • Solar Panels
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
      • Global Manufacturing Locations
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
    • About SPW
    • Digital Issues
    • Event Coverage
    • Podcasts
    • Product Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Inverter Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Solar Panel Manufacturing Locations
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
    • Solar Classrooms
    • Suppliers
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
  • Leadership
    • Vote for the 2022 Leaders!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 Winners
    • 2018 Winners