Power of PV
This PV system is used to help power a Colorado home. The system includes a .960 kilowatt PV system with 8 – 120 watt PV modules.
Image: NREL
Purely Parabolic
These parabolic trough collectors in New Mexico work by concentrating the sun’s rays on an oil-filled tube running along the focal line of a trough.
Image: Randy Montoya/ Sandia National Laboratories
America
This exhibit, dubbed Solar Independence by its designers, is a 4-kilowatt photovoltaic system that in real life is used for mobile emergency power. The flag's field of blue consists of PV panels that generate enough electricity to power 1-2 homes.
Image: NREL
Out of this World
PV cells and modules are very reliable both in space and on Earth. The Hubble Space Telescope (pictured here) and most communications satellites are powered by PV technology – driven by more than 20 years of research and development by the Energy Department.
Image: NASA, Smithsonian Institute, Lockheed
Solar Eclipse of the Heart
A total solar eclipse captured in 2012 at the National Solar Test Facility located at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The annular eclipse is reflected on some of the 212 computer-controlled mirrors called heliostats.
Image: Randy Montoya/ Sandia National Laboratories
One Mighty Monastery
The Monastery of Christ in New Mexico uses electricity from PV to power 15 computers for website designs, including the Vatican's. The eight solar arrays mounted on trackers follow the sun throughout the day.
Image: Sandia National Laboratories
Solar... and Mountains
This 10-kilowatt PV array was installed in 2003 at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Distributed Energy Resources Test Facility in Colorado. The array consists of 96 polycrystalline silicon modules and is used to test PV inverters and packaged systems.
Image: NREL
Remote Power Source
Utah’s Dangling Rope Marina PV/hybrid power system is the largest solar energy system in the National Park Service and is estimated to save more than $2.3 million in fuel and maintenance costs over a 20-year period.
Image: NREL
Spreading Your Wings
This 9.1-kilowatt hybrid photovoltaic system, located on an island 30 miles west of San Francisco, powers a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s facility – serving as a home for biologists, 6,000 sea lions and thousands of birds.
Image: Farallon National Wildlife Refuge
Cool Solar Dude
The Alamosa PV Plant, located in south central Colorado, is one of the largest PV power plants in the United States and generates about 8.2 megawatts of power.
Image: Steve Wilcox
Now That's a lot of Solar Panels
You’re looking at 30,000 square feet of PV panels on the roof of the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. At its peak, the panels will generate 675 kilowatts of power.
Image: SunPower
Soaring to New Heights
This 1.1-megawatt PV array at the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport will meet 20% of the facility's energy needs.
Image: City of San Jose