The first electronic device used in power circuits was the electrolytic rectifier - an early version was described by a French experimenter, A. Nodon, in 1904. These were briefly popular with early radio experimenters as they could be improvised from aluminum sheets, and household chemicals. They had low withstand voltages and limited efficiency.

The first solid-state power semiconductor devices were copper oxide rectifiers, used in early battery chargers and power supplies for radio equipment,