LitEratUre rEviEw

Theoretical

Photovoltaic

     Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel (24 March 1820 – 11 May 1891), known as Edmond Becquerel, was a French physicist who studied the solar spectrum, magnetism, electricity, and optics. He is known for his work in luminescence and phosphorescence. He is credited with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect, the operating principle of the solar cell, in 1839. He was the son of Antoine César Becquereland the father of Henri Becquerel.

      Charles Fritts was the American inventor credited with creating the first working solar cell in 1883.Fritts coated the semiconductor material selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold. The resulting cells had a conversion electrical efficiency of only about 1% owing to the properties of selenium, which in combination with the material's high cost prevented the use of such cells for energy supply. Selenium cells found other applications however, for example as light sensors for exposure timing in photo cameras, where they were common well into the 1960s. Solar cells later became practical for power uses after Russell Ohl's 1941 development of silicon p/n junction cells that reached efficiencies above 5% by the 1950s/1960s.

Thermoelectric

      Thomas Johann Seebeck; (9 April 1770 – 10 December 1831) was a physicist who in 1821 discovered the thermoelectric effect. Seebeck was born in Reval (today Tallinn, Estonia) to a wealthy Baltic German merchant family. He received a medical degree in 1802 from the University of Göttingen, but preferred to study physics. In 1821 he discovered the thermoelectric effect, where a junction of dissimilar metals produces an electric current when exposed to a temperature gradient. This is now called the Peltier–Seebeck effect and is the basis of thermocouples and thermopiles.

      Jean Charles Athanase Peltier  (French; February 22, 1785, in Ham – October 27, 1845, in Paris) was a Frenchphysicist. He discovered the calorific effect of electric current passing through the junction of two different metals. This is now called the Peltier effect or Peltier–Seebeck effect. The Peltier effect, where current is forced through a junction of two different metals, forms the basis of the small 12/24 volt heater/coolers sold for vehicle use. By switching the direction of current, either heating or cooling may be achieved. It also forms the basis of the rather expensive, but very stable, junction heated soldering irons, and is used for spot cooling of certain integrated circuits. Junctions always come in pairs, as the two different metals must be joined at two points. Thus heat will be moved from one junction to the other. To make a usable heat pump, multiple junctions are created between two plates. One side will get hot and the other side cold. An effective heat dissipation device must be attached to the hot side to maintain a cooling effect on the cold side. This is usually a heatsink and fan assembly.