Charles Fritts
Charles Fritts (1850 – 1903) was an 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. Bellingcat attributes a photo of the cells to the roof of George Cove's laboratory. Fritts coated the semiconductor material selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold. The resulting cells had a conversion electrical efficiency of about 1% owing to the properties of selenium given the material's cost, was too low to economically use such cells. Selenium cells found other applications including as light sensors for exposure timing in photo cameras, where they were common into the 1960s. Solar cells later became practical for power uses after Russell Ohl Russell Shoemaker Ohl (January 30, 1898 – March 20, 1987) was an American scientist who is generally recognized for patenting the modern solar cell (, "Li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Solar Cell
A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.Solar Cells chemistryexplained.com It is a type of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics (such as Electric current, current, voltage, or Electrical resistance and conductance, resistance) vary when it is exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices are often the electrical building blocks of solar panel, photovoltaic modules, known colloquially as "solar panels". Almost all commercial PV cells consist of crystalline silicon, with a market share of 95%. Cadmium telluride thin-film solar cells account for the remainder. The common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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CleanTechnica
''CleanTechnica'' is a US-based online audio and video media company, that operates a website under the same name, dedicated to aggregating news in clean technology, sustainable energy, and Electric vehicle, electric vehicles, with a focus on Tesla, Inc., Tesla. It is a privately held company founded in 2008. Content CleanTechnica's stories have been cited by ''Business Insider'' (on Lindsey Graham), Reuters (on nanotech for energy storage), ThinkProgress (on wind power in Texas), ''The Washington Post'' (on suburban living), and ''Slate (magazine), Slate'' (on medical mask stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic). ''ThinkProgress'' have also published their stories in full. CleanTechnica has published interviews with people such as the Post Carbon Institute Fellow Richard Heinberg. Staff The Chief Editor, main writer and CEO is Zach Shahan. Apart from its own staff, CleanTechnica have accepted guest contributions from others, such as California Governor (then mayor of San ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Solar Array
A photovoltaic system, also called a PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. Many utility-scale PV systems use tracking systems that follow the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than fixed-mounted systems. Photovoltaic systems convert light directly into electricity and are not to be confused with other solar technologies, such as concentrated solar power or solar thermal, used for heating and cooling. A solar array only encompasses the solar panels, the visible part of the PV system, and does not include all the other hardware, often summarized as the balance of system (BOS). ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Bellingcat
Bellingcat (stylised bell¿ngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014. Bellingcat publishes the findings of both professional and citizen journalist investigations into war zones, human rights abuses, and the criminal underworld. The site's contributors also publish guides to their techniques, as well as case studies. Bellingcat began as an investigation into the use of weapons in the Syrian civil war. Its reports on the Russo-Ukrainian War (including the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17), the El Junquito raid, the Yemeni Civil War, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and the killing of civilians by the Cameroon Armed Forces have attracted international attention. Name The name derives from the idiom " belling the cat", which comes from a medie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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George Cove
George Cove was a Canadian inventor, known primarily for early solar electric generation equipment. Biography Early life George Cove was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1863 or 1864. His father Joseph Cove patented many mechanical devices. His mother, Ann, was also born in Nova Scotia, and her parents were from Ireland. Solar electric generator and kidnapping In 1904–05, Cove developed his 'solar electric generator' which he displayed at the Metropole Building in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Word of this device reached American investors, and a plant to develop more devices was planned in Somerville, Massachusetts. In 1906, Cove patented a device for capturing tidal power for which he won a gold medal from the Canadian government for his model of the machine and a plan for harnessing the tides of the Bay of Fundy. In 1909–10, Cove maintained a workshop in New York at 118 Maiden Lane to manufacture solar electric generators. By July 1911, Cove had raised 5 million dollars fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping levels are present in the same crystal, they form a semiconductor junction. The behavior of charge carriers, which include electrons, ions, and electron holes, at these junctions is the basis of diodes, transistors, and most modern electronics. Some examples of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and elements near the so-called " metalloid staircase" on the periodic table. After silicon, gallium arsenide is the second-most common semiconductor and is used in laser diodes, solar cells, microwave-frequency integrated circuits, and others. Silicon is a critical element for fabricating most electronic circuits. Semiconductor devices can display a range of different useful properties, such as passing current more easil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Selenium
Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elemental state or as pure ore compounds in Earth's crust. Selenium ( ) was discovered in 1817 by , who noted the similarity of the new element to the previously discovered tellurium (named for the Earth). Selenium is found in :Sulfide minerals, metal sulfide ores, where it substitutes for sulfur. Commercially, selenium is produced as a byproduct in the refining of these ores. Minerals that are pure selenide or selenate compounds are rare. The chief commercial uses for selenium today are glassmaking and pigments. Selenium is a semiconductor and is used in photocells. Applications in electronics, once important, have been mostly replaced with silicon semiconductor devices. Selenium is still used in a few types of Direct current, DC power surge ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Electrical Efficiency
The efficiency of a system in electronics and electrical engineering is defined as useful power output divided by the total electrical power consumed (a vulgar fraction, fractional Expression (mathematics), expression), typically denoted by the Greek alphabet, Greek small letter eta (η – ήτα). : \mathrm=\frac If energy output and input are expressed in the same units, efficiency is a dimensionless number. Where it is not customary or convenient to represent input and output energy in the same units, efficiency-like quantities have units associated with them. For example, the heat rate (efficiency), heat rate of a fossil fuel power station, fossil fuel power plant may be expressed in British thermal unit, BTU per kilowatt-hour. Luminous efficacy of a light source expresses the amount of visible light for a certain amount of power transfer and has the units of lumen (unit), lumens per watt. Efficiency of typical electrical devices ''Efficiency'' should not be confused ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Russell Ohl
Russell Shoemaker Ohl (January 30, 1898 – March 20, 1987) was an American scientist who is generally recognized for patenting the modern solar cell (, "Light sensitive device"). Ohl was a notable semiconductor researcher prior to the invention of the transistor. He was also known as R.S. Ohl. Russell Ohl's specialized area of research was into the behavior of certain types of crystals. He worked on materials research in the 1930s at American Telephone & Telegraph, AT&T's Bell Labs’ Holmdel facility, investigating diode detectors suitable for high-frequency wireless, broadcasting, and military radar. His work was only understood by a handful of scientists in the organization, one of whom was Dr. Walter Brattain (one of the trio who invented the germanium bipolar transistor in 1947, and who would be awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956). Ohl, in 1939, discovered the PN barrier (or as it became known, the “P–N junction”). [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Timeline Of Solar Energy
In the 19th century, it was observed that the sunlight striking certain materials generates detectable electric current – the photoelectric effect. This discovery laid the foundation for solar cells. Solar cells have gone on to be used in many applications. They have historically been used in situations where electrical power from the grid was unavailable. As the invention was brought out it made solar cells as a prominent utilization for power generation for satellites. Satellites orbit the Earth, thus making solar cells a prominent source for power generation through the sunlight falling on them. Solar cells are commonly used in satellites in today's times. 1800s * 1839 - Edmond Becquerel observes the photovoltaic effect via an electrode in a conductive solution exposed to light. * 1873 - Willoughby Smith finds that selenium shows photoconductivity. * 1874 - James Clerk Maxwell writes to fellow mathematician Peter Tait of his observation that light affects the conductivity ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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People Associated With Solar Power
The term "the people" refers to the public or common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. In contrast, a people is any plurality of persons considered as a whole. Used in politics and law, the term "a people" refers to the collective or community of an ethnic group or nation. Concepts Legal Chapter One, Article One of the Charter of the United Nations states that "peoples" have the right to self-determination. Though the mere status as peoples and the right to self-determination, as for example in the case of Indigenous peoples (''peoples'', as in all groups of indigenous people, not merely all indigenous persons as in ''indigenous people''), does not automatically provide for independent sovereignty and therefore secession. Indeed, judge Ivor Jennings identified the inherent problems in the right of "peoples" to self-determination, as i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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19th-century American Inventors
The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolished in much of Europe and the Americas. The First Industrial Revolution, though it began in the late 18th century, expanded beyond its British homeland for the first time during the 19th century, particularly remaking the economies and societies of the Low Countries, France, the Rhineland, Northern Italy, and the Northeastern United States. A few decades later, the Second Industrial Revolution led to ever more massive urbanization and much higher levels of productivity, profit, and prosperity, a pattern that continued into the 20th century. The Catholic Church, in response to the growing influence and power of modernism, secularism and materialism, formed the First Vatican Council in the late 19th century to deal with such problems and confirm ce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |