Facts »

About 30% of a family's energy budget is used to heat water.
A Solar hot water system can replace 50% to 80% of those energy costs.
Solar Energy is measured in kilowatt-hours. 1 kilowatt = 1000 watt, which means 1kilowatt-hour (kWh) = the amount of electricity required to burn a 100 watt light bulb for 10 hours.

A 1-kilowatt home solar system will prevent approximately 170 lbs. of coal from being burned, 300 lbs of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month!
Relying on a battery backup, a solar energy system can provide electricity 24x7, even on cloudy days and at night.

Solar panels come in various colors.
More solar energy falls on the earth in one hour than the entire population uses in one year.
Over the last 20 years the cost of solar energy systems has come down seven fold. As the demand for these systems rise and manufacturing volume increases, costs will decrease and the economic payback time will also decrease.

Monthly average residential consumption of electricity in the US in 2011 was 920 kilowatt hours. (Source: US DOE)
Albert Einstein won his Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect in 1921.
A world record was set in 1990 when a solar powered aircraft flew 2,523 miles across the USA, using no fuel.

Electric ovens consume the most amount of electricity, followed by microwaves and central air conditioning.
$83,000 - that's the amount that one Air Force base in Nevada saves per month after installing a solar energy array on site.
While the US has 3,900% more sunlight than Germany, the smaller European country has 6,000% more solar energy.

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History of Solar

Harnessing the sun’s energy is not just an invention of the modern man, we have been harvesting the power of the sun since the 7th century B.C.E. Here are some key moments in the history of solar.

-1839 French Scientist Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect.

-1891 Inventor Clarence Kemp Patents first commercial solar water heater.

-1905 Albert Einstein publishes his papers on the photovoltaic effect and in 1921 wins the noble prize for this paper.

-1954 Photovoltaic technologies is born in the United States with the first silicon photovoltaic cell developed at bell labs to be used in rural communications systems, telephone systems and radio.

Some Interesting Links

Please feel free to check out some of these links and find out more information what’s going on in the alternative energy industry today!!

http://homepower.com/home/ - Articles about residential renewable energy

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/ - Current events regarding renewable energy

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/44853.pdf - an article regarding financing a system in your house

http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=50012 - Here are some interesting articles about alternative energy.

http://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/SolarThermal/solar-water-heating/ - More articles on solar thermal

http://www.urbangreenenergy.com - Click here to find out more about wind power