When was the first solar cell made?

In 1954 researchers Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson at Bell Laboratories built the first practical solar cell using silicon. It converted around six percent of the sunlight that struck it into usable electricity, far more than earlier attempts. The invention was announced as a way to generate power from the Sun, though early cells were far too expensive for everyday use. Solar cells soon found an ideal home powering satellites in space, where other energy sources were impractical. Decades of research have since raised efficiency and cut costs, making solar power a major source of electricity.