Daryl Chapin
- Category : 1906-births
- Type : GP
- Profile : 2/4 - Hermit / Opportunist
- Definition : Split - Small (14)
- Incarnation Cross : RAX Laws 2
Biography
American physicist, best known for co-inventing solar cells in 1954 during his work at Bell Labs alongside Calvin S. Fuller and Gerald Pearson. For the discovery, Chapin was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alumni at Willamette and the John Scott Medal from Philadelphia, both in 1956. By 1959, he had simplified the solar cell's experiment to the point where it was performed by high school students across the United States. In order to bring down the cost, he experimented with polycrystalline silicon but was unable to reproduce the efficiencies of the single crystals. He passed away in his home in Naples, Florida on 19 January 1995, at age 88. After his death, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008 alongside his two co-workers.