WASHINGTON, April 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S.
Census Bureau:
A HIGHER POWER
Profile America — Saturday, April 25th. On this date
in 1954, Bell Laboratories in New
York announced the prototype manufacture of a new solar
battery, or what we now call a solar cell. The unit represented
something of an exponential improvement over existing photoelectric
devices. The new cell was capable of a 6 percent energy conversion
efficiency with direct sunlight, as opposed to about a 1 percent
rate with earlier creations. In a demonstration for the press, the
Bell inventors placed the array of several small silicon strips in
sunlight. The cell captured the free electrons and turned them into
electrical current, powering the rotation of a 21-inch Ferris
wheel. In the U.S. today, solar energy powers some 73,000 homes,
and manufacturing solar cells is a $1.4
billion a year business. You can find more facts about
America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 3558
Contemporary story:
http://www.rfcafe.com/references/popular-electronics/solar-battery-oct-1954-popular-electronics.htm
Ferris wheel:
http://www.popsci.com/article/science/invention-solar-cell
Household solar power:
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_B25040&prodType=table
Solar cell manufacturing /NAICS 334413A101:
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ECN_2012_US_31I2&prodType=table
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media
and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are
available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at
http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the
"Newsroom" button).
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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau