Fact 3: In 1921, Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his proposed experiment with solar energy and photovoltaics.
Many of us known Einstein as a genius who invented the equation E = mc2. Others knew him as a physics pioneer who formulated the Theory of Relativity. However, what was least expected was that Albert Einstein actually won the Nobel Prize for his experiment with solar energy and photovoltaics. Einstein successfully demonstrated the photoelectric effect showing that light comes in a tiny discreet unit called photon.
Photoelectric effect occurred when a metallic surface is exposed to electromagnetic radiation above a certain frequency which is specific to the surface of the material. When the metallic surface receives light with the correct frequency, it will absorb the photons and produces current. With current comes electricity that we use to power all the electrical apparatus in our daily life. As such, this demonstrated the very basic concept of how we obtain solar energy.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectric_effect
Sorry, but Einstein did not win the Nobel price for his “experiment with solar energy and photovoltaics”, but won it for his observation (theory!), that light consists of “particles” or photons, each with an Energy of its frequency times Planck’s constant. This was one of the major triggers for quantum mechanics, which gave us the tools to understand photovoltaics – which, btw, was already observed in the 19th century long before Einstein had been born.
No offense, but if you want to present facts, it might be of use to check a few other sources besides wikipedia. What you describe is not exactely wrong, but it does not describe how a solar cell works, either.
And we obtain solar energy in the form of radiation (as you described in fact 1) – which we can then transform into electricity by various means.
cheers
ppl talk 2 me