So, broad strokes and fun facts are a nice way to start out I think.
A quick sweep of some interesting solar things to dive into a bit deeper a bit later.
According to the National Renewable Energy Labratory (NREL), more energy from the sun falls on the earth in one hour than is used by everyone in the world in one year.
The NREL is the top solar resource site in my links to the right. read read read.
In Japan, the world's largest solar-power market, the government expects that 50 percent of residential power supply will come from solar power by 2030, up from a fraction of a percent today. 50%! We'll see.
Here are some more fun facts, I pinched from ezinearticles.com
Fun Facts on Solar Power
* As early as 1921, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for experiments with solar power and photovoltaics. It was awarded to Albert Einstein.
* When silicon is taken from just one ton of sand, and used in photovoltaic solar power panels, that silicon can produce as much electricity as 500,000 tons of burning coal.
* In the U.S., there are more than 10,000 homes that get their energy entirely from solar power.
* Nearly 200 years ago, a British astronomer by the name of John Herschel cooked food with solar power during a journey to Africa.
* The price of photovoltaic (PV) solar power panels has dropped 200 percent over the last 30 years, according to the Department of Energy. Owners now pay between 10 and 40 cents per kilowatt-hour.
* Germany is making the best use of solar power, even though its climate includes many cloudy days.
* It takes only about 8 minutes for solar energy to travel from the sun to the earth.
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