BECQUEREL, EDMOND. - THE BEGINNING OF SOLAR-CELL-ENERGY.

Sur les effets électriques qui se produisent sous l'influence solaire.

(Paris, Bachelier), 1839. 4to. No wrappers. In: "Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences", Tome IX (No.22). Entire issue offered. Becquerel's paper: pp. 711-713.

First printing of this important paper, which together with Becquerel's paper "Mémoire sur les effets èlectriques produits sous l'influence des rayons solaires" and "Recherches sur les effets de la radiation chimique de la lumière solaire, au moyen des courants électriques", published the same year, marks the beginning of Solar-Cell-Energy, the first step in a long path to solar panels, and a technology of immense importence for humanity.

In 1923 Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize for his theories explaining the photoelectric effect (his 1905-paper).

The "photovoltaic effect" is the basic physical process through which a solar cell converts sunlight into electricity. In 1839, nineteen-year-old Edmund Becquerel, a French experimental physicist, discovered the photovoltaic effect while experimenting with an electrolytic cell made up of two metal electrodes. Becquerel found that certain materials would produce small amounts of electric current when exposed to light.

Order-nr.: 49104