The Fab 40 Who Paved the Way for a Green Revolution CBS News
Century, France ruled greentech. In 1839, Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic cell while experimenting with an electrolyte cell. In that instant, the solar module industry was born.
3. August Mouchet and Robert Stirling . In the early decades of the 1800s, Stirling invented the engine that bears his name. In 1860, Mouchet, a mathematician, proposed a solar-powered steam engine, which becomes a forerunner of parabolic solar thermal systems. The two chief schools for solar thermal technology emerge here . (Hat tip to Clarence Kemp for devising the first solar thermal water heater in 1891 in Baltimore.)
4. Calvin Fuller, Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson . The trio created the first silicon photovoltaic cell at Bell Labs in 1954. It was only 4 percent efficient, but Bell raised the figure to 11 percent soon after. Today, the maximum efficiency for silicon PV is around 29 percent with a realistic limit at 25 percent. SunPower will soon be at 23 percent .
