U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 25: A Higher Power

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

A HIGHER POWER

Profile America — Tuesday, 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 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 107,000 homes. Solar cells are manufactured by 155 domestic businesses, with annual revenue of about $3 billion. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Kane's Famous First Facts, 3558
Contemporary story/accessed 2/3/2017: www.rfcafe.com/references/popular-electronics/solar-battery-oct-1954-popular-electronics.htm 
Ferris wheel/accessed 2/3/2017: www.popsci.com/article/science/invention-solar-cell 
Household solar power/American Community Survey: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/B25040 
Solar cell manufacturing /NAICS 334413c1/accessed 2/3/2106: www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1914

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by 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 "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov

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