When Was the First Solar Panel Invented?

Researchers Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson at Bell Laboratories demonstrated the first practical silicon solar cell on April 25, 1954. Their cell converted sunlight into electricity at about 6% efficiency — a dramatic improvement over earlier selenium-based cells that managed less than 1%. The New York Times hailed it as "the beginning of a new era." Early applications were limited to space satellites; the Vanguard 1 satellite in 1958 was the first to use solar power. The price of solar panels has fallen by over 99% since the 1970s, and modern commercial panels achieve 20–23% efficiency. In 2023, solar power generated approximately 5.5% of global electricity.