Need some solar energy facts or solar power facts? This page is aimed at becoming the best go-to source on the web for solar facts… if it isn’t already. The solar facts below are succinct and organized by categories and subcategories. To help improve the page, please feel free to add any solar facts you are aware of in the comments below… or correct ours if we’ve got any wrong. If you do either of those things, just be sure to include a link to a reliable source — we want to be very careful here to check the facts before publishing them. Cool? Cool.
Solar farm in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Photo Credit: Marika Krakowiak / Solar Love
Solar Energy Facts / Solar Power Facts Table Of Contents
The main categories below are:
— Solar Records
- Solar Cell Efficiency Records
- Solar Module Efficiency Records
- Largest Solar Power Plants
- Solar Market Leaders
- Solar Vehicles
— Solar Policies
- Feed-in Tariffs
- Net Metering
- Value of Solar Tariffs
- Renewable Energy Standards (RES) / Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) / Renewable Obligation
- PACE Financing
- Solar Mandates
- Rebates, Tax Credits, Grants, & Loans
- Interconnection
- Permitting
- More Info, More Policies?
— How Solar PV Works
— Chime In!
Now, on to the solar energy and solar power facts!!
Solar Records
Solar Cell Efficiency Records
- Overall world solar cell efficiency record (also the concentrator triple-junction solar cell efficiency record) — 44.7% (Fraunhofer ISE)
- Triple-junction, non-concentrator solar cell efficiency record — 37.9% (Sharp)
- Two-junction, concentrator solar cell efficiency record — 32.6% (IES–UPM)
- Two-junction solar cell conversion efficiency record under one sun of illumination — 31.1% (NREL)
- Single-junction, concentrator solar cell efficiency record — 29.1% (FhG–ISE)
- Single-junction, GaAs, thin-film crystal solar cell efficiency record — 28.8% (Alta Devices)
- Crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency record — 25.6% (Panasonic)
- Amorphous and monocrystalline silicon solar cell efficiency record — 21.4% (EPFL Institute of Microengineering)
- P-type mono-crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency record — 21.4% (Trina Solar)
- Thin-film solar cell efficiency record (CdTe) — 21% (First Solar)
- CIS thin-film solar cell efficiency record — 20.9% (Solar Frontier)
- CIGS thin-film solar cell efficiency record — 20.8% (Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg — ZSW)
- P-type multi-crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency record — 20.5% (Trina Solar)
- Black silicon solar cell efficiency record — 18.7% (Fraunhofer ISE & Aalto University)
- CZTS solar cell efficiency record — 12.6% (Solar Frontier, IBM, & TOK)
- Single-junction microcrystalline silicon solar cell efficiency record — 10.7% (EPFL Institute of Microengineering)
- Plasmonic polymer solar cell efficiency record — 8.92% (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)
- Graphene solar cell efficiency record — 8.6% (University of Florida)
Solar Module Efficiency Records
- Overall solar PV module efficiency record (also the CPV module efficiency record) — 36.7% (Fraunhofer ISE)
- Outdoor solar PV (and CPV) module efficiency record — 34.9% (Amonix)
- Commercial CPV module efficiency record — 31.8% (Soitec)
- Commercial solar module efficiency record — 21.5% (SunPower)
- Leading solar modules in solar module yield field tests — SunPower SPR-327NE-WHT-D modules
- Thin-film solar module aperture efficiency record — 17.4% (Q-Cells)
- Cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) module conversion efficiency record — 16.1% (First Solar)
- CIGS thin-film solar module efficiency record — 15.7% (Samsung)
- Flexible PV solar module efficiency record — 15.5% (MiaSolé)
- Monolithically integrated, commercially available CIGS module efficiency record — 13.4% (Stion) (also holds the 14.8% aperture efficiency record for such modules) and 13.4% (SoloPower)
Largest Solar Power Plants
PV
- Largest “collection” of solar power plants: 600 MW — Gujarat Solar Park
- Largest solar power plant under construction: 579 MW — Antelope Valley Solar Project
- Largest solar PV power plant completed: 550 MW — Topaz Solar Farm
CSP
- Largest concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant under construction: 392 MW — Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
- Largest single-unit CSP plant completed: 100 MW — Shams 1
CPV
- Largest concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar power plant: 37 MW — Alamosa Solar Generating Project
Solar Market Leaders
Global
- Solar Power (MW) Per Million People (End of 2012): 398.63 — Germany
- New Solar Power (MW) Per Million People In 2012: 108.98 — Bulgaria
- Solar Power (MW) Per $1 Billion GDP (End of 2012): 17.8 — Bulgaria
- New Solar Power (MW) Per $1 Billion GDP In 2012: 15.03 — Bulgaria
- Solar Peak Power Output Record: 22.68 GW — Germany
- Single-Year Solar Power Installation Record: 7.6 GW — Germany
US
- Solar Power (W) Per Capita (End of 2012): 166.9 — Arizona
- New Solar Power (W) Per Capita In 2012: 108.39 — Arizona
Module Manufacturers & Developers
- #1 solar module manufacturer (2012) — Yingli Green Energy
- #1 utility-scale solar developer in world — First Solar
- #1 EPC solar contractor in the world — First Solar
Solar Vehicles
- 1st solar-powered airplane to cross the US: Solar Impulse
- 1st solar-powered airplane to fly for 24 hours nonstop: Solar Impulse
- 1st solar-powered airplane to fly for 48 hours nonstop: Solar Impulse
- Solar-powered aviation world distance record on a single flight: 832 NM/ 1’541 km — Solar Impulse
