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The First Steam Engine
Thomas Savery, an engineer and inventor, patented a machine that could effectively draw water from flooded mines using steam pressure. Using two steam boilers, Savery devised a nearly continuous system for pumping water from mines.
https://www.livescience.com/44186-who-invented-the-steam-engine.html -
The Voltaic Pile
Volta put together a rather messy stack of alternating zinc and silver discs, separated by brine-soaked cloth. He built the pile, which consisted of as many as thirty disks, in imitation of the electric organ of the torpedo fish. When a wire was connected to both ends of the pile, a steady current flowed. The battery was a huge success.
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200603/history.cfm -
The Electric Motor
Thomas Davenport constructed the first American DC electric motor powered by a battery.
http://www.edisontechcenter.org/DavenportThomas.html -
The First Fuel Cell
Sir William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, a device that produces electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen.
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/history -
The First Rechargeable Battery
In 1859, the French physician Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable battery based on lead acid, a system that is still used today. Until then, all batteries were primary, meaning they could not be recharged.
https://alchetron.com/Gaston-Plante-1162585-W
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/when_was_the_battery_invented -
The First Light Bulb
Thomas Edison invented an incandescent light bulb that could be used for about 40 hours without burning out. In 1879 Edison filed a patent for an electric lamp with a carbon filament. By 1880 his bulbs could be used for 1200 hours.
https://www.livescience.com/43424-who-invented-the-light-bulb.html -
The Photoelectric Cell
The photoelectric cell was first discovered by German physicist Heinrich Hertz. This differs from solar panels, since solar panels are photo-voltaic. You may have seen a photoelectric cell built in on a calculator.
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-photoelectric-cells-work.html -
The First Electricity-Generating Wind Turbine
The first electricity-generating wind turbine was invented by Charles F. Brush. During the early 1900s, small wind turbines produced 5 kW to 25 kW of power. They were used throughout rural areas in the United States to provide electricity to remote locations.
http://www.thirdplanetwind.com/energy/history.aspx -
The First Geothermal Power Plant
Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator on 4 July 1904 in Larderello, Italy. It successfully lit four light bulbs. Later, in 1911, the world's first commercial geothermal power station was built there.
http://www.reuk.co.uk/wordpress/geothermal/larderello-worlds-first-geothermal-power-station/ -
The First Solar Panel Demonstration
Solar cells, which convert sunlight into electrical current, had their beginnings more than a hundred years ago, though early solar cells were too inefficient to be of much use. In April, 1954, researchers at Bell Laboratories demonstrated the first practical silicon solar cell. The effort to understand and make a solar took several minds across many years.
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200904/physicshistory.cfm
