Essay On Photovoltaic Effect

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The photovoltaic effect was first reported by Edmund Becquerel in 1839 when he observed that the action of light on a silver coated platinum electrode immersed in electrolyte produced an electric current. Forty years later the first solid state photovoltaic devices were constructed by workers investigating the recently discovered photoconductivity of selenium. In 1876 William Adams and Richard Day found that a photocurrent could be produced in a sample of selenium when contacted by two heated platinum contacts. The photovoltaic action of the selenium differed from its photoconductive action in that a current was produced spontaneously by the action of light. No external power supply was needed. In this early photovoltaic device, a rectifying junction had been formed between the semiconductor and the metal contact. In 1894, Charles Fritts prepared what was probably the first large area solar cell by pressing a layer of selenium between gold and another metal. In the following years photovoltaic effects were observed in copper is copper oxide thin lm structures, in lead supplied and thallium supplied. These early cells were thin…show more content…
Photovoltaic’s was a subject of intense interest during this period, and a range of strategies for producing photovoltaic devices and materials more cheaply and for improving device. Efficiency were explored. Routes to lower cost included photo electrochemical junctions, and alternative materials such as polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, other `thin _lm' materials and organic conductors. Strategies for higher efficiency included tandem and other multiple band gap designs. Although none of these led to widespread commercial development, our understanding of the science of photovoltaic’s is mainly rooted in this

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