ABSTRACT
The direct conversion of sunlight to electricity using solar cells has
had an interesting and colorful history. Today, the use of solar cells is
finally emerging as an important tool in man’s quest for new sources
of energy, particularly now that the negative environmental impact
of burning fossil fuel is becoming so apparent. It was not always so. I
began working on solar cells at the time of the first oil crisis in 1973.
You could say that I was part of the second generation of solar cell
researchers. The first generation had invented the practical silicon
solar cell and developed it as the standard source for powering earth
orbiting satellites. This article presents my personal perspective
on the development of PV from 1973 to the present. (For some
reason the rather difficult-to-pronounce term “photovoltaics” has
taken hold to describe this endeavor. Those in the field usually just
call it PV, which rolls nicely off the tongue, at least in its English
pronunciation, “pee vee”. So that is the term I will use here.)
