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1957 - AT&T assignors (Gerald L. Pearson, Daryl M. Chapin, and Calvin S. Fuller) receive patent US2780765, "Solar Energy Converting Apparatus." They refer to it as the "solar battery." Hoffman Electronics creates an 8% efficient solar cell.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_solar_cells
In 1958 our neighbors, the Chapins, had a visit from Daryl M. Chapin. He had a model car that had the new cells on top. When he shown a flashlight on it the car would roll and stop when the light was turned away. Possibly the first solar car [model]. In another 50 years they will be pushing interstellar probes with lasers.
I'd thought this represented the first solar cell.
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- 1873 - Willoughby Smith finds that selenium shows photoconductivity.
- 1877 - W.G. Adams and R.E. Day observed the photovoltaic effect in solidified selenium, and published a paper on the selenium cell. 'The action of light on selenium,' in "Proceedings of the Royal Society, A25, 113.
- 1878 - Augustin Mouchot displays a solar power generator at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
- 1883 - Charles Fritts develops a solar cell using selenium on a thin layer of gold to form a device giving less than 1% efficiency.
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ibid