Pearson, Gerald L.
Gerald L. Pearson (1905-1986), an American physicist, produced the first photovoltaic cell that could produce a useful amount of electric power in 1954 with colleagues Daryl Chapin, and Calvin Fuller at Bell Labs. Pearson et al. created an array of several strips of silicon (each about the size of a razorblade), which they then placed in sunlight. The silicon strips captured the free electrons and turned them into electrical currents. Their silicon-based cell had an efficiency of 4.5%, several times better than selenium cells. The New York Times commented that this was “the beginning of an era, leading eventually to the realization of one of mankind's most cherished dreams—the harnessing of the almost limitless energy of the sun for the uses of civilization.”
