the.com/photovoltaic
sunlight walks into a silicon wafer and leaves as electricity, no combustion required.
means a material or device that converts light directly into electrical current using the physics of semiconductors, not heat engines.
from from greek phos (light) plus volt, honoring alessandro volta; the effect was first spotted by edmond becquerel in 1839 when he shone light on electrodes in a jar and watched voltage appear.
discovery agebecquerel was nineteen when he found it
real efficiencymost panels convert under 22% of sunlight
einstein connectionhis nobel was for explaining the photoelectric effect
space firstvanguard 1 used solar cells in 1958