Here at FPL , we love being active in the sun and helping our clients save money (and the Earth) by switching to solar energy systems. Learning about solar energy and how it can benefit our environment is fun for us. The more we learn about this clean, renewable energy source, the more we are committed to growing the solar energy field. Are you ready for some solar trivia?
Do you think you know a lot about solar power and how it works? Let’s see the strength of your “Solar IQ.” Here are some interesting trivia facts about the sun, solar power, and solar energy systems.
- Every day 120,000 terawatts of power from the Sun flows through to the Earth – 10,000 times more than what flows through our industrial civilization at any given time. That’s a lot of power at our fingertips!
- Solar and wind power systems have 100-times better lifetime energy yield than either nuclear or fossil energy system per ton of mined materials.
- It would take only around 0.3 percent of the world’s land area to supply all of our electricity needs from solar power.
- The state that generates the most utility-scale solar power is California. According to the Energy Information Administration, California became the first state to generate more than 5% of its annual utility-scale electricity from solar power in 2014.
- Solar panels don’t need direct sunlight to produce electricity. However, direct sunlight produces the most energy. Talk to one of our trained solar technician to find out if your roof has the orientation that would make your home a good candidate for solar.
- Though the sun is 90 million miles from the earth, it takes less than 10 minutes for light to travel that distance.
- The term “Photovoltaic” has two parts: “photo”, derived from the Greek word for light, and “volt”, from electricity pioneer Alessandro Volta. And that’s exactly what photovoltaic systems do – turn light into electricity!
- Edmond Becquerel was the first person to realize that sunlight could produce an electric current in a solid material in 1839, but it took more than a century for scientists to fully understand this process and develop a practical solar cell.
- Silicon, the major component of a solar cell, is the second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust (about 28% by mass) after oxygen.
- Manufacturing solar cells produces 90% fewer pollutants than conventional fossil fuel technologies.