Introduction

    1839: Photovoltaic effect was first recognized by French physicist
Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel.
 1883: First solar cell was built by Charles Fritts, who coated the
semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold to form the
junctions (1% efficient).
 1946: Russell Ohl patented the modern solar cell
 1954: Modern age of solar power technology arrives - Bell Laboratories,
experimenting with semiconductors, accidentally found that silicon doped
with certain impurities was very sensitive to light.
 The solar cell or photovoltaic cell fulfills two fundamental functions:
 Photogeneration of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a light-absorbing
material
 Separation of the charge carriers to a conductive contact to transmit electricity