N Solar Cell Watches
The first solar cells were developed by D. Chapin, G.L. Pearson and C. Fuller in the USA.
In the Horological Journal of April 1958, the following can be read: "One of their electric
wrist watches has been modified by Hamilton Watch Co. to operate on power provided by
the sun. A small silicon cell converts light into enough power to store sufficient electricity
to run the watch. No commercial development is planned".
A number of firms, for instance Patek Philippe (1952) and Lip, used solar cells in small clocks.
| 1920 | The first research on selenium starts. |
| 1930 | The first photocells are invented by the physicists B. Lange and W. Schottky. |
| 1953 | Patek Philippe presents the first light powered clock at the Basle Fair. The clock was equipped with photocells made of selenium. |
| 1976 | The first Swiss-made solar powered cells for watches are manufactured by Esotron S.A. of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. |
The first solar cells were made of silicium and selenium.
When light falls on a special kind of semiconductor diode, the photons create pairs of holes
and electrons. The negative electrons go in the depletion-layer to the N-silicium and the
positive holes to the P-silicium, and a voltage difference of about 0.3 to 0.5 Volt will be
created. Four or five solar cells connected together in series, generate 1.5 Volt; the voltage
required to make a watch run or recharge its battery.
Related Photos: 1
Copyright © by Pieter Doensen
email: doensen@xs4all.nl
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any
forms or by any means - graphic, electronic or mechanical, including
(but not limited to) photocopying or information storage and retrieval
systems - without written permission from the copyright holder.