Summer equinox solar radiation10/7/2023 The current record for solar panel efficiency, 26.6 percent, was set in March 2017 by Japanese scientists. ![]() Chapin was originally focused on engineering solar cells made of selenium, but silicon was quickly found to be significantly more efficient.ĩ. Three scientists at Bell Laboratories – Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson – were primarily responsible for engineering the original silicon solar cells. The first practical solar cell was unveiled in 1954 by Bell Laboratories in New Jersey – and converted solar energy at an efficiency of about 6 percent. However, the photovoltaic phenomenon was not fully articulated until 1873 by engineer, Willoughby Smith.Ĩ. In fact, much of the Becquerel family was populated by physicists – Alexandre-Edmond’s father, Antoine Cesar, and his other son, Henri, were both noted in their fields for various discoveries and inventions. The photovoltaic effect – which converts sunlight into electricity – was first observed by physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel in 1839. The same report from the nonprofit, The Solar Foundation, shows that 67 percent of all jobs in the solar industry do not require a bachelor’s degree, which makes it an especially viable career option for people who have not been able to attend college.ħ. The solar industry employed more US military veterans in 2016 than the workforce average – 9 percent compared to the national rate of 7 percent. The forecast for green jobs is sunnier than ever! We don’t have to choose between good jobs and a healthy planet /ri8aRifH8SĦ. In fact, the US solar industry now employs more than double the number of people that the US coal mining industry does – and that number is growing every year. The solar industry was responsible for creating one in every 50 jobs added in the US during 2016. With rapidly falling costs and new business models, solar panels are becoming an increasingly financially viable option for average Americans – increased popularity and demand helps to drive down costs as they become more common across the country.ĥ. Costs for utility-scale solar panels have dropped 85 percent since 2009. Musk, in addition to having founded Tesla and SpaceX, is a strong environmental advocate – he even served as an advisor to the White House and advocated for clean energy, before quitting his role after the announcement of the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement.Ĥ. The International Energy Agency has also projected that it won’t be long before solar dominates global electricity production. Elon Musk projects that solar energy will become the world’s largest energy source by the year 2031. Installing solar panels would put that space to a productive use and create a significant amount of clean energy.Ĭhina is building a solar farm inside the Chernobyl Nuclear Exclusion Zone. Across US cities, there are millions of acres that are occupied by abandoned industrial sites – factories, plants, etc. The Department of Energy put this figure out in 2003 – and in the ~15 years since, solar panel efficiency has risen and costs have fallen. The US Department of Energy estimated that 90 percent of the electricity used by the US could be generated from solar panels installed in abandoned industrial sites in our nation’s cities. Plus, unlike fossil fuels, it’s renewable and will never run out – at least not for a few billion years.Ģ. We have all the solar power we could want. To celebrate, we thought we’d share some facts on solar energy, and illuminate why the industry is advancing at light speed.ġ.More energy from the sun lands on the face of the earth in just one hour than the entire global population uses in one year. ![]() June 21 is the summer solstice – or, for the unenlightened, the longest day of the year in terms of daylight.
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