Charles Fritts (1850 – 1903[1]) was the American inventor credited with creating the first working selenium cell in 1883.
According to CleanTechnica, the world's first rooftop solar array, using Fritts' selenium cells, was installed in 1884 on a New York City rooftop.[2] Bellingcat, however, attributes a photo of the cells to the roof of George Cove's laboratory.[3]
Fritts coated the semiconductor material selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold. The resulting cells had a conversion electrical efficiency of only about 1% owing to the properties of selenium, which in combination with the material's high cost prevented the use of such cells for energy supply. Selenium cells found other applications however, for example as light sensors for exposure timing in photo cameras, where they were common well into the 1960s.
Solar cells later became practical for power uses after Russell Ohl's 1941 development of silicon P/N junction cells that reached efficiencies above 5% by the 1950s/1960s.
By 2006, the best silicon solar cells were over 40% efficient, with industrial average over 17%.[4] By 2022, the average efficiency of crystalline Silicon was 21%.[5]
^according to Marius Paulescu and others Weather Modeling and Forecasting of PV System Operations, Springer Verlag 2013, S. 1
^Meyers, Glenn (December 31, 2014). "Photovoltaic Dreaming 1875-1905: First Attempts At Commercializing PV". CleanTechnica. Archived from the original on June 9, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
^Postma, Foeke (August 16, 2023). "Untangling the Mystery of the World's First Rooftop Solar Panel". bellingcat. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
^"Microsoft Word - PV Report 2006.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
^Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE, [
https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/ise/de/documents/publications/studies/Photovoltaics-Report.pdf "Photovoltaics Report"], 2023-02-21, page 30
CharlesFritts (1850 – 1903) was the American inventor credited with creating the first working selenium cell in 1883. According to CleanTechnica, the...
Fritts is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: CharlesFritts (1850–1903), American inventor Donnie Fritts (1942–2019), American musician...
in 1880. A working solar cell, of low efficiency, was constructed by CharlesFritts in 1883, using a metal plate coated with selenium and a thin layer of...
layer of selenium covered with a thin film of gold, was experimented by CharlesFritts in 1884, but it had a very poor efficiency. However, the most familiar...
using the photovoltaic effect. The first solar cell was constructed by CharlesFritts in the 1880s. The German industrialist Ernst Werner von Siemens was...
on selenium,' in "Proceedings of the Royal Society, A25, 113. 1883 - CharlesFritts develops a solar cell using selenium on a thin layer of gold to form...
and his student Richard Evans Day in 1876. Only a few years layer, CharlesFritts fabricated the first thin-film solar cell, also using selenium as the...
Clerk Maxwell 1883 – First solar cells using selenium waffles made by CharlesFritts 1893 – Thermite Welding developed and soon used to weld rails 1902 –...
First Solar Flip Flap Floating Solar (Floatovoltaics) Fresnel reflector CharlesFritts Calvin Fuller Geomagnetic storm Global dimming Greenhouse Growth of...
an Electric Current" in a 20 February 1873 issue of Nature. In 1883 CharlesFritts built the first solid state photovoltaic cell by coating the semiconductor...
parallel — a problem that had long bedeviled electrical engineers. 1883: CharlesFritts, an American inventor, creates the first working solar cell. The energy...
new" and "led to a technological cul-de-sac." Timeline of solar energy CharlesFritts Bartels, Dennis (1997-06-06). "George Cove's Solar Energy Device". Material...
processes, James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates color photography, and CharlesFritts makes the first solar cells using selenium waffles. [citation needed]...
record by 330 feet (100 m), and will not be surpassed for twenty years. CharlesFritts constructs the first solar cell using the semiconductor selenium on...
Andrew Blakers Max Deml Tom Dinwoodie David Faiman Hans-Josef Fell CharlesFritts – was the American inventor credited with creating the first working...
33 quarterfinals are set". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 15 February 2024. Fritts, Chick (10 August 2023). "NJPW G1 Climax 33 night 17 live results: Quarterfinals"...
Dame, Indiana is his largest Fritts instrument to date, with four manuals (keyboards) and 70 stops. Other recent Fritts instruments of note are located...
– "The Ballad of the Crimson Kings" on Dangerous Spirits 1997 – Donnie Fritts – "Breakfast in Bed" on Everybody's Got a Song 1997 – Bo Ramsey – "Desert...
Marshall Fallwell Jr. as Jim Ward Buck Ford as William Pinkerton Donnie Fritts as Jury Foreman Lecile Harris as Bartender Mary Jane Harvill as Actress...
Prine's collaborators from this period, like Bobby Braddock and Donnie Fritts, would receive credits on Aimless Love. According to the 1993 release Great...
Fritts comes from a politically active family; his father Edward Fritts is the township supervisor for Dixon Township and his late uncle John Fritts was...
Uprising 2023 Results – 12/16/23". bodyslam.net. Retrieved December 20, 2023. Fritts, Chick (October 14, 2023). "NJPW Royal Quest III live results: Will Ospreay...
Parker; John Prine; Nick Lowe; Marshall Crenshaw and Zucchero.) Donnie Fritts: June – A Tribute To Arthur Alexander (2018) Discography notes CHUM chart...
Global Information