Milestones of Solar Conversion and Photovoltaics
Seventh century BC: In ancient Egypt the houses were built so that the solar radiation could be collected during the day and used during the night.
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1.1 Prehistory Seventh century BC: In ancient Egypt the houses were built so that the solar radiation could be collected during the day and used during the night. Fifth century BC: The Greeks oriented their houses so that they could receive solar energy in the winter time to heat the buildings. Third century BC: Archimedes used mirrors to reflect direct sun radiation and to defend Syracuse from invasion by the Romans. Second century BC: the first windows made out of transparent mica were inserted in houses in northern Italy, with the aim to increase the use of solar radiation in winter time. First century AD: the so called heliocaminos started to be used. These solar baths with big mica windows oriented to the south found their maximum application in Italy around the fifth century. Fourteenth century: the first solar law was introduced in Italy. 1767 in Russia: M.V. Lomonossov suggested the use of lenses to concentrate the solar radiation. 1767 in Switzerland: Horace de Saussure discovers the amplification and increased heat efficiency in Matjoshka-type five-folded glass boxes. 1830 in South Africa: J. Hershel uses the first solar cooker. Around 1830: H. Repton constructs the first (glass) greenhouses in Europe.
1.2 Milestones of Photovoltaics 1839: Alexandre-Edmund Becquerel, a young experimental physicist in France, discovered the photovoltaic effect at age of 19, while assisting his father, experimenting with electrolytic cells made up of two metal electrodes. 1873: W. Smith, working in the UK, discovered the photoconductivity of selenium, which led to the invention of the photoconductive cell.
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V. Petrova-Koch
1876: W.G. Adams and R.E. Day, USA, observed the photovoltaic effect in solid selenium. 1883: Ch. Frits, an American inventor, described the first solar cell made from Se wafers. 1887: H. Hertz discovered in Germany that ultraviolet light altered the lowest voltage capable of causing a spark between two metal electrodes. 1888: Ed. Weston receives the first patent for solar cells (U.S. 389124 and US389125). 1904: W. Hallwachs discovered the photosensitivity in a copper/cuprous oxide pair. 1904: A. Einstein publishes his pioneering theoretical work on the photoelectric effect (he received the Nobel Prize in 1921 for this work). 1916: R.A. Millikan provides experimental proof of the photoelectric effect. 1916: Y. Czochralski (Polish scientist) develops a new method to grow single-crystal silicon. 1930: W. Schottky discovers a new cuprous oxide photoelectric cell. 1931: A.F. Ioffe guides a project at the Physico-Technical Institute in St. Petersburg on thallium sulphide photocells, which reach a record efficiency at that time of more than 1%. He submitted a proposal to the Soviet government concerning the use of solar PV roofs for providing electricity. 1932: Audobert and Stora discover the photovoltaic effect in CdS. 1948: W. Schottky presents the first theoretical concept for semiconductor PV. 1951: at Bell Labs the first p–n junction was grown in germanium. 1953: D. Trivich publishes the first theoretical calculati
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