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Article: Transistor's Kid Brother.(silicon solar cells)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- August 1, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Two very different energy-harnessing technologies, the silicon solar cell and the steam engine, may someday be ranked as having equal significance.
Today the powerful legacy of James Watt's steam engine, a machine that converted the heat of burning wood or coal into the mechanical motion that drove factories, locomotives, and boats, is well known. Yet the technology's heyday has passed, its functions as a mobile power source having been overtaken by internal combustion engines. As a stationary power source, the steam engine has been displaced primarily by electric motors, which are fed electricity commonly produced by steam-driven turbines.
In contrast, ...