Solar Photovoltaics Is Rooted in a Discovery Published on this Date
Today is the 113th anniversary of the publication of a paper that revolutionized science and ushered in the age of electronics. On this day in 1900 Max Planck published his paper on quantum mechanics, in which he explained that light had a dual nature: in certain ways it behaved like a wave, in other ways it behaved like a stream of tiny massless particles which (later) were called “photons.” This concept is the basis on which Albert Einstein discovered the photoelectric effect in 1905, the phenomenon in which photons incident on certain materials cause electrons to be knocked out of their orbits and released.
Fast-forward to present day where energy research and consultancy firm Navigant Research tells us, “Continually declining solar photovoltaic (PV) prices will continue to power an international market surge, with annual installations doubling by 2020 en route to grid parity around the world.”
Cause to celebrate, and to thank Max Planck, pictured above on a German postage stamp.
