CHAPTER ONE POWER FROM THE SUN Every spring orange and yellow poppies bloom in California's Antelope Valley They grow on I land where rattlesnakes and deer roam Amid this dry rugged land 1 7 million dark glass panels sit in neat rows Each panel turns slowly from east to west They follow the sun throughout the day The valley's panels are part of the Solar Star projects These two neighboring solar power plants Satellite photos show the enormous size of the Antelope Valley's solar power plants 5
opened in 2015 They are named Solar Star 1 and Solar Star 2 Together they make up the world’s largest solar power station Their panels turn the sun’s energy into 579 megawatts of electricity This is enough to power more than 255,000 homes The Solar Star projects are just two of many new solar plants Throughout the world people are looking for new ways to create power They want clean quiet renewable energy To find this energy scientists are looking to the sun It is a power source of the future The Sun’s Power The sun has been shining for approximately 4 6 billion years It is the star at the center of our solar system The sun is 6 Megawatts Solar power is usually measured in megawatts MW This is a unit of power In the United States solar energy currently has the ability to produce approximately 29,000 MW That is enough energy to power around 5 7 million US homes As more cities add solar panels this number will continue to increase
The sun's intense energy reaches Earth as light made up of burning hydrogen and helium Its core reaches temperatures of more than 27 million degrees Fahrenheit 15 million °C The sun's energy travels to Earth as light Without this energy life as we know it would be impossible The amount of energy the sun gives off is staggering Just 20 days of the sunlight that hits Earth has as much power as all the planet's fossil fuels combined But harnessing this power is difficult Today's solar panels capture only a small portion of it Still this small portion is useful It can power devices and heat or cool homes It can also be stored in batteries to use later
