Edmond Becquerel
French physicist (1820-1891)
- Fame53.5
- Momentum2.5
- France rank#173
Source-basedStable
- Fame53.5
- Momentum2.5
- France rank#173
- Scientists rank#140
- Wikipedia3K
Lived 1820–1891, aged 71France
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Summary
Updated 2026-06-09
He built the first solar cell in 1839 — at nineteen — after discovering that light could generate electricity when it hit certain materials. The photovoltaic effect he named that year now powers satellites, rooftops, and the energy transition two centuries later.
Biography
About
Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel was born on 24 March 1820 into a family already steeped in physics; his father Antoine César worked in electrochemistry, and his son Henri would later discover radioactivity. In 1839, while still a teenager, Becquerel observed that certain materials produced small electric currents when exposed to light — the photovoltaic effect — and constructed the first rudimentary solar cell to demonstrate it. He spent the next five decades studying the solar spectrum, magnetism, electricity, and optics, with particular focus on luminescence and phosphorescence. He died on 11 May…
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The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Stable53.5
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum2.5
Historical21.3
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
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- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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