Solar panels have long been a feature of the quest for renewable energy, and as such feel like a very modern technology indeed. However, their origins go back to 1839, when French physicist Edmund Bequerel first discovered that certain materials would produce small amounts of electric current when exposed to light - the photoelectric effect.
Albert Einstein provided the real breakthrough for modern photovoltaic technology in 1905, when he described the nature of light and used this to explain the nature of the photoelectric effect, for which he later won a Nobel prize. It took some time from that discovery to the production of the first photovoltaic module in 1954, but by the 60s engineers started to make use of the technology to provide power for spacecraft, and through use in space programmes around the world the technology progressed to being a potential source for domestic energy.
This week’s science vine attempts to show how the photoelectric effect works in solar panels and how that creates usable energy.
