On October 28, 1994 Calvin Souther Fuller passed away at his home in Vero Beach, Florida.  He was 92. 

Born on May 25th, 1902, Fuller's legacy includes 33 patents, including how to purify silicon.  Some have called his inventions a pivotal step in the founding of semiconductors, the evolution of the personal computer and the development solar cell.   In his 1994 New York Times obituary, AT&T spokesman Robert Ford said Fuller's invention of the silicon solar cell...

"...helped make the space program practical, because space vehicles could get power from readily available sunlight."

Born in Chicago, Fuller attended the University of Chicago he received a B.S. and a Ph.D.in physical chemistry.  He joined Bell Labs (then called Bell Telephone) in 1930, where his work included research in organic insulating materials and investigations of the molecular nature of polymers.

Working with Bell Telephone scientists Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson, Fuller diffused boron into silicon to capture the sun's power.  The invention of the 'solar battery' resulted in a 600% improvement in previous technologies to harnessing solar power and convert it into electricity.  The inventors used several small strips of silicon to capture sunlight and render it into free electrons.

Here is a story told by Calvin S. Fuller's oldest son Robert W. Fuller as part of the speech preparation for Calvin S. Fuller's May 2008 induction to the National Inventor's Hall of Fame:

"In 1954, I was home from vacation from college to visit my parents. That night my father, Calvin Souther Fuller, came home with something that looked like a quarter with wires sticking out of it. This was a device that connected to a small electric windmill that stood on the table. He shined a bright flashlight on the quarter-like object, which was actually silicon solar cell, and the blades of the windmill started turning. It was so exciting to see the flashlight power the tiny windmill. While this device looked like a quarter to anyone else, it was actually the world’s first silicon solar battery - a device that later become known as the silicon solar cell."

The solar cell was given a public demonstration at Murray Hill in 1954. The first public service trial of the Bell Solar Battery began with a telephone carrier system in 1955 in Americus, Georgia. By 1958, the US Department of Defense wanted solar cells to power vehicles and satellites in space. The first time the cells were put on board an operational space vehicle, and used, was in 1962, on AT&T's Telstar communications satellite.

To follow DailyCleanTech updates on social media, please visit the Technica Communications Famous Days In Technology page

I was recently at the Cleantechnology Institute Showcase organized by the UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education and the Environmental Business Cluster.  I felt like a kid in a candy store.  Table after table highlighted technology that’s so new, that few people have heard of them.  I experienced a range of emotions from excitement and goose bumps, to confusion and skepticism.  The evening made walking across the Berkeley campus in high heels definitely worth it!

On the way home, I passed a house with solar panels on the roof and a feeling of boredom washed over me, as I thought about how unexciting a simple solar panel felt now that I’d experienced what’s coming on the horizon.  But then, I reminded myself that at some point in history, that solar panel was very exciting, ground breaking in fact.  I wondered, could celebrating the history of cleantech be as interesting as its latest discoveries?

That’s the intent of a new series of posts on the EcoTuesday blog, titled Daily CleanTech.  It will  honor and celebrate the intrepid scientists and forward thinkers who are the foundation of our blossoming green economy.  As the year goes by, check in for the latest update on these famous days in cleantech history.  You can also follow these updates on Twitter and Facebook too, @DailyCleanTech, though the updates will be abbreviated and hold less information than the post on the EcoTuesday site.

Our first post on Willhelm Hallwachs and his discovery of the photoelectric effect is first up.  Enjoy and please feel free to offer your feedback!

Our May EcoTuesday event featured a leader in kinetic energy technology, Aaron Lemieux Founder & CEO of Tremont Electric, and we were pleased to have him as our keynote. Aaron shared a powerful story of how he conceptualized and developed the renewable energy technology known as nPower®. The concept originated while Aaron was hiking the Appalachian Trail and he realized he was creating abundant kinetic energy through the consistent up-and-down movement of hiking. 

Aaron then devised a technology, now patented as nPower®, that can harvest kinetic energy from motion which occurs in nature, ranging from human walking to Great Lake waves. The first application of nPower® technology is the nPower® PEG, personal energy generator. The nPower® PEG is the world’s first kinetic energy generator for charging hand-held electronics and it represents the type of marketable eco-innovation we all should respect. 

The scalability of Aaron's innovation is a great point of excitement, as these units could be scaled downward or upward for a multitude of potential applications.  Aaron spoke with enthusiasm and anticipation around the latest nPower® development effort - harnessing the kinetic energy of waves.  nPower® WECs, wave energy converters, could be deployed in our own Lake Erie, harness the low-density wave energy, and provide a low-cost, large-scale renewable energy. This application of the nPower® technology is currently being modeled with the aid of multiple universities.

A final honor to note is that Aaron will soon be headed to California representing Cleveland as a finalist in the upcoming Sustainable Brands Innovation Open. We hope those of nearby sister cities of EcoTuesday might take a convenient opportunity to meet and greet this fascinating inventor and much appreciated speaker in person. 

Aaron left us with a final ask - that we visit Tremont Electric’s website for the unique opportunity to be one of the first to own the renewable energy marvel, nPower® PEG, and invest in the future of kinetic energy generation. The nPower® PEG is now available for purchase at www.nPowerPEG.com.