ABSTRACT
The physical phenomenon responsible for converting light into electricity – the photovoltaic effect – was first observed by a French physicist, Edmund Becquerel, in 1839. He noted that a voltage appeared when one of two identical electrodes in a weak conducting solution was illuminated. The photovoltaic effect can be described simply as follows: light, which is a form of energy, enters a photovoltaic (PV) cell and transfers enough energy to cause the freeing of electrons. A built-in potential barrier in the cell acts on these electrons to produce a voltage which can be used to drive a current through an electric circuit.
