| Fun facts about solar power are popular at any age. | | | | * The price of photovoltaic (PV) solar power panels |
| People want serious information about solar power, | | | | has dropped 200 percent over the last 30 years, |
| but sometimes, even the serious can be expressed in | | | | according to the Department of Energy. Owners now |
| fun facts. | | | | pay between 10 and 40 cents per kilowatt-hour. |
| Fun facts on solar power include things such as the | | | | * A study by the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) |
| fact that, in a single hour, enough sunlight reaches the | | | | showed that solar power conditions were close to |
| earth's surface to meet the entire world's energy | | | | perfect (99 percent) in San Francisco on June 14th, |
| needs for a full year. Imagine! That information comes | | | | 2000. On that day, 100,000 customers in that area lost |
| from the American Solar Energy Society. | | | | power. Solar power could have provided all they |
| Here are some more fun facts on solar power. | | | | needed. |
| 12 Fun Facts on Solar Power | | | | * Another USDOE study showed that the roofs of |
| * As early as 1921, the Nobel Peace Prize was | | | | California's city and county buildings, if covered with |
| awarded for experiments with solar power and | | | | solar PV panels, could generate 200 megawatts of |
| photovoltaics. It was awarded to Albert Einstein. | | | | clean electricity! Cover California's school roofs with |
| * When silicon is taken from just one ton of sand, and | | | | solar power panels, and you add 1,500 megawatts |
| used in photovoltaic solar power panels, that silicon can | | | | more to the state's peak power supply. |
| produce as much electricity as 500,000 tons of burning | | | | * In California, covering every available commercial and |
| coal. | | | | industrial roof with solar power panels could generate |
| * In the U.S., there are more than 10,000 homes that | | | | all of the electricity needed in that state during the |
| get their energy entirely from solar power. | | | | daytime. |
| * Nearly 200 years ago, a British astronomer by the | | | | * Germany is making the best use of solar power, |
| name of John Herschel cooked food with solar power | | | | even though its climate includes many cloudy days. |
| during an journey to Africa. | | | | * It takes only about 8 minutes for solar energy to |
| * California opened its first large solar power plant in | | | | travel from the sun to the earth. |
| 1982. | | | | Suggestion for school teachers: Have a contest to |
| * Solar power can cut water bills by more than 50 | | | | see which group of students can unearth the most fun |
| percent each year in a home where a solar model | | | | facts on solar power. |
| replaces the electric water heater. | | | | |