Elliot Berman

Elliot Berman was an American photochemist who made solar power practical for uses far beyond satellites. In 1970 he persuaded the Exxon Corporation to fund an effort to build a solar panel that would be economical for use on Earth, after other companies had turned the idea down. Berman's team found that imperfect silicon wafers rejected by the semiconductor industry worked nearly as well in solar cells as flawless ones, a discovery that sharply cut manufacturing costs, and in 1973 the Exxon funded Solar Power Corporation began shipping its first product. Berman's approach brought the cost of solar generated electricity down from about one hundred dollars per watt to roughly twenty dollars per watt, a reduction that made solar power viable for a much wider range of practical applications.