When French physicist Edmond Becquerel created the first photovoltaic cell in 1839 at age 19, it’s unlikely that he envisioned a world powered by solar energy. His experimentation with light was more likely to have been inspired by his interest in photography.

Becquerel shone different light sources on two electrodes immersed in an acidic solution and discovered that light could generate a small electric current between the electrodes. As a budding young scientist, perhaps Becquerel was aware of the fundamental relationship between light and life on this planet. 

Sixty years earlier, photosynthesis had been discovered, explaining how plants converted light to nourishing chemical energy. Becquerel proved that the sun’s energy could also be converted to electrical energy. Without this discovery and the research that followed, the evolution of solar technology would not have been possible.

It wasn’t until inventor Charles Fritts constructed the first rudimentary solar panel in the 1880s and installed it on a rooftop in New York City that people started thinking about photovoltaics as a source of electricity. Although Fritts proclaimed his........

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