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The Use of Sunlight to Discover Oxygen
The British scientist, Joseph Priestly used sunlight to make his discovery of oxygen. This is important because it was the first time that someone had discovered oxygen by the use of sunlight. -
The Discovery of the Materials that Produced Energy
Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered that some materials produced small amounts of electricity when exposed to light. This is an important part to the solar power industry because this was the first time someone discovered that the sunlight can produce energy. -
Discovery of Selenium PV Cells
William Grylls Adams and his student, Richard Evans Day, discovered that selenium produced electricity when it was exposed to light. Selenium Photovoltaic Cells were converting light to electricity at a 1-2% efficiency. This was a very important event in time because this was the first time that electricity was produced by using sunlight. It was only at a 1-2% efficiency but it was still a great start. -
The Greenhouse
The greenhouse was created by many people across the world. It was used as a combination of sunlight and humidity to help the plants grow. This was important because the greenhouse lets us grow plants more efficiently throughout the whole year. -
Hot Water from Solar Power
A utility called ‘Flat-Plate Collectors’ allowed the southern parts of the USA to produce hot water using solar power. This is important because it was the first time that solar power was used to produce hot water. -
Silicone Based Solar Cells
D.M. Chapin, C.S. Fuller & G.L. Pearson, from Bell Laboratory, discovered a way to produce electricity from the direct sunlight using silicone based solar cells. This is an important event because they found a new way to produce electricity from a new product. -
10% Efficiency of Solar Cells
Hoffman Electrics produced solar cells at 10% efficiency and sells them publicly at $25 per cell. This is important because it shows how much the solar power industry has grown in less than a century. -
Sunmobile
The first solar car, the ‘sunmobile’, was invented by William G. Cobb. This is an important event because it was the first solar car ever and it has made the first start to the history of solar cars. -
20% Efficiency of Solar Cells
A University in New South Wales set a world record of 20% efficiency of a solar cell. This is important because at the time, it was the highest percentage of efficiency in the world. -
First Solar Car Race ‘Tour De Sol’
This was the first solar car race in ever in the world. This was run in Switzerland annually from 1985 to 1993. This was important because it was the first race in the world and after this, many countries followed this path amd started holding solar car races. -
