The 70th anniversary of the Bell Telephone Laboratories "Solar Battery" discovery

Abstract

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Bell Telephone Laboratories "Solar Battery." This event was noted in the New York Times on March 26, 1954–and the device was a tipping point for photovoltaics technology. The Bell team was led by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson. This humble mW sized device was foundational to the terawatts of PV cumulatively installed today.