Elected to New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame, June 22, 2006, for Development of the Semiconductor Photovoltaic Solar Cell.

Calvin Souther Fuller (May 25, 1902 – October 28, 1994) was an American physical chemist at AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked for 37 years from 1930 to 1967.

He helped develop synthetic rubber during World War II, he was involved in early experiments of zone melting, he is credited with devising the method of transistor production yielding diffusion transistors, he produced some of the first solar cells with high efficiency, and he researched polymers and their applications.

[2] [3] Working with Bell Telephone scientists Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson, Fuller diffused boron into silicon to capture the Sun's power.

The invention of the solar battery resulted in a 600% improvement in the ability to harness the Sun's power into electricity.

He shined a bright flashlight on the quarter-like object, which was actually silicon solar cell, and the blades of the windmill started turning.

The first public service trial of the Bell Solar Battery began with a telephone carrier system in 1955 in Americus, Georgia.

[5][6] By 1958, the US Department of Defense realized an extremely valuable application of this device as it deployed self-sufficient, power to vehicles and satellites in space.

Fuller moved to Vero Beach, Florida when he reached age 65 and was subject to mandatory retirement from Bell Labs.