Energy · 1883

Fritts selenium solar cell

Fritts coats selenium with gold leaf to make a thin-film solar cell.

Charles Fritts built selenium cells in New York in 1883 with around 1% efficiency. Adams and Day had already generated current from illuminated selenium in 1876. Too weak for bulk power, selenium cells later found use in light meters.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia Source

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Photovoltaic effect 1839

What it led to 1

Silicon solar cell 1954

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

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