during the previous year. In 1985, annual solar installation demand was only 21 Megawatts.
• The Australian Solar PV market represented only 0.3% of this market in 2006
• Cumulative solar energy production accounts for less than 0.01% of total Global Primary Energy
demand. Solar Energy demand has grown at about 25% per annum over the past 15 years
(hydrocarbon energy demand typically grows between 0-2% per annum).
• Japan accounted for around 39% of total global cell production in 2006. Among the top
five manufacturers, Sharp remains the largest and has shown the fastest growth over the
last five years.
• Solar Energy (photovoltaic) prices have declined on average 4% per annum over the past 15 years.
• The earth receives more energy from the sun in just one hour than the world uses in a whole year.
• Two billion people in the world have no access to electricity. For most of them, solar photovoltaics would be their cheapest electricity source, but they cannot afford it.
• Approximately 45% of the cost of a silicon cell solar module is driven by the cost of the silicon wafer, a further 35% is driven by the materials required to assemble the solar module.
• 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.
• Despite what you may have heard, the average payback for a solar panel (the time it takes to recover the emissions that go into making the panel) is less than 3 years. Considering the solar panels have an expected lifespan of at least 30 years, this means the solar panel will have a net gain of more than 27 years. Click here for the report by the U.S Department of Energy on solar panels and their energy payback.
• The 1990’s were the warmest decade, and 1998 was the single warmest year of the past millenium. Click here for a no-nonsense report by the EPA on Global Warming.
