Although less than 150 million kilometers from the Earththe Sun represents a great source ofenergy. It is indeed estimated that it could provide enough energy to meet the needs of more than 7,000 times the current world population each year! It is still necessary to know how to recover and use this enormous solar potential… In 1839, the physicist Anthony Becquerel found that some materials could produce small amounts of electricity when exposed to light from the sun: the photovoltaic effect had just been discovered.
Research then continued until the manufacture of the first solar panel in 1954 by Bell Laboratories. used as generator of energy for satellites, solar energy experienced a great boom during the space race in the 1960s. photovoltaic cells decreased. With the soaring prices of oil, solar panels began to be used in homes and gradually became part of everyday life. Many scientists are working hard to develop solar-powered instruments and solar power plants are in construction in the whole world. Through this slideshow, Futura invites you to discover some of these inventions of the future.