Solar Panel

Hello there. I am a Solar Panel. I am a big, shiny friend who loves the sun. I love to lie in the warm sunshine all day long. My favorite thing to do is drink up the sunbeams. Yum, yum, yum. I drink and drink the light until I am full of happy energy. What do I do with all that energy? I turn it into clean power for you. I do not make loud noises. I am very quiet. I just sit and soak up the sun. I help make the world bright so you can play and read your books at night. I am a sunshine catcher.

A very long time ago, a man named Alexandre Edmond Becquerel found out that sunshine had a special secret. He saw that light could make a little spark of power. It was a wonderful secret. Many years later, on April 25th, 1954, three very clever friends wanted to learn more about the sun's secret. Their names were Daryl, Calvin, and Gerald. They worked together in a special place called Bell Labs. They made me from a shiny material that loves the sun even more than I do. They put me in the sunlight, and guess what happened? I started making power. I made enough power to make a tiny toy Ferris wheel go round and round. I also helped a little radio sing a happy song. They were so excited. I was born.

Today, I have lots of solar panel friends all over the world. You can see us sitting on top of houses, smiling at the sun. We sit in big, open fields, too. We work together to catch as much sunshine as we can. We help keep the lights on in your house and at your school. We help keep your toys charged up so you can play. We even help power big spaceships that fly to the moon. The best part is, we do it all without making any yucky smoke or loud noises. I love my job. I get to work with my best friend, the sun, to keep our world bright and clean for all the children to play in.