QUICKSAND BY THE NUMBERS » SOLAR POWER
1839
The year AlexandreEdmond Becquerel discovered the ability to create an electrical current from the sun’s rays, a process called photovoltaic effect. More than a century later, in 1941, the first solar panel was invented with the first commercial solar panel produced by Bell Laboratories in 1954. Of course, the sun has been used for energy centuries prior with humans using a magnifying glass to start fire as far back as the 7th century B.C.
80
The percentage in cost solar panels have dropped since 2008. Since 2019, solar energy is considered the cheapest source of energy in the world. China is the world leader in solar energy generation. The U.S. is third, with California generating the most solar energy in the country. The largest solar farm in the world is in India, spanning more than 11,100 acres.
6B
Number of miles logged by the oldest manmade satellite in orbit. The Vanguard 1 was launched in 1958 and is powered by solar cells.
6 | SAND& PINE MAGAZINE April/May 2022
92.7B
Number of solar panels in use around the world today. In the U.S., there are more than 3 million solar panels in use (and growing). Solar energy provides about 3 percent of U.S. electricity generation and there are enough installed solar panels in the country to power 18 million homes.
120K
Number of terawatts of energy that hits the earth's surface each day from the sun. The sun provides more energy in one hour than the whole world uses in a year.
100M
Tons of carbon dioxide U.S. solar power generation offsets in a year, the equivalent of 131 million acres of forest.
0
The level of pollution solar energy emits. Apart from the pollution produced to manufacture the solar panels and transport them, solar power is one of the cleanest and most sustainable sources of energy on Earth.
