Milestone-Proposal:First Practical Photovoltaic Solar Cell
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Docket #:2009-02
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To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation?
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old?
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy.
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity?
Was it of at least regional importance?
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)?
Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony?
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated?
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone?
Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1954
Title of the proposed milestone:
First Practical Photovoltaic Solar Cell
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
North Jersey
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
Unit: North Jersey
Senior Officer Name: Amit Patel
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
Unit: North Jersey
Senior Officer Name: Ken Oexle
Unit: North Jersey
Senior Officer Name: Howard Leach
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
IEEE Section: North Jersey
IEEE Section Chair name: Amit Patel
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Howard Leach
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Proposed site of the proposed milestone plaque would be in the Hall of Innovation on the site where the invention occurred at what is now Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, 600 Mountain Ave, Murray Hill, NJ.
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. Proposed site of the proposed milestone plaque would be in the Hall of Innovation on the site where the invention occurred at what is now Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, 600 Mountain Ave, Murray Hill, NJ, within the IEEE North Jersey Section.
Are the original buildings extant?
Yes
Details of the plaque mounting:
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
The Hall of Innovation is accessible to the public via the lobby in Building 6.
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include justification here. (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
This invention was the prototype of present photovoltaic cells that are in widespread manufacture all over the world and is a key element of the renewable energy effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels to combat global warming. These inventors made their cells with Silicon, the dominant material used to make today's solar cells. This invention was recognized quickly and was the source of power for all communications satellites, including Telstar, the first commercial communications satellite. Needless to say, communications and scientific satellites would not be possible without this invention. These cells are clearly visible on the roofs of private residents, commercial buildings, and even telephone poles. Their use is expanding rapidly. By Dr. Alfred U. Mac Rae (NAE).
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
In early 1953, in an effort to find new sources of power for transistor telephone systems, Chapin began to investigate the direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. The creation of a very thin PN junction within silicon had to be overcome. The solar battery was first demonstrated on April 25, 1954. In 1959, Chapin so simplified the process of making solar cells that it became one of Bell Systems’ Science Experiments performed by high school students around the U.S.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
In 1954, three American researchers, G.L. Pearson, Daryl Chapin, and Calvin Fuller, demonstrated a silicon solar cell capable of a six percent energy-conversion efficiency when used in direct sunlight. Up until that time only about a one percent energy-conversion efficiency had been achieved. “The modern age of solar power technology arrived in 1954 when Bell Laboratories, experimenting with semiconductors, accidentally found that silicon doped with certain impurities was very sensitive to light. Daryl Chapin, with Bell Labs colleagues Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson, invented the first practical device for converting sunlight into useful electrical power.[3]This resulted in the production of the first practical solar cells with a sunlight energy conversion efficiency of around 6 percent. The solar battery was first demonstrated on April 25, 1954. The first spacecraft to use solar panels was the US satellite Vanguard 1, launched in March 1958 with solar cells made by Hoffman Electronics. This milestone created interest in producing and launching a geostationary communications satellite, in which solar energy would provide a viable power supply. This was a crucial development which stimulated funding from several governments into research for improved solar cells.”
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.