The history of PV solar cells

Via the Substack "Construction Physics": 

...In 1881, American inventor Charles Fritts used this discovery to build the world’s first solar PV cell. Fritt’s cell consisted of a thin layer of selenium on top of a copper plate, covered with semitransparent gold leaf. Fritts found that when exposed to light, his cell could produce a current “that is continuous, constant, and of considerable force”.

Fritts showed his invention to famous inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens, who encouraged other scientists to explore the potential of solar generated electricity. But Fritts’ selenium solar panels were incredibly inefficient, converting less than 1% of the light’s energy into electricity. Development of light-sensitive selenium panels continued (they later became popular as light meters for cameras), but selenium PV cells were never widely used as a source of electricity.

For a dumb organic chemist, this was a pretty good read. Enjoy!