West Brighton on Staten Island in Richmond County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Powered by the Sun
Capturing light from the sun to make electricity.
Changing Sunlight into Electricity
A solar panel is made up of many solar cells. Each cell is made of a semiconductor material, like silicon, and as sunlight hits the cells it is converted to electricity! The cells are wired to a circuit which carries the electricity from the solar panel to a battery for storage, or to be used right away.
Chuck's Weather Station is completely powered by the electricity created by the solar panels you see on the roof of this log house.
Exceptional Energy
Our sun has been releasing energy to the Earth for billions of years. If a mere 4% of the world's desert area was covered with solar panels, it could supply the equivalent of all of the world's electricity. For example, the sunlight that falls on the Gobi Desert, located in central Asia, could supply almost all of the world's electricity requirements.
Did you know that Solar Power…
• starts with solar cells called 'photovoltaic units' that convert the sun's rays to electricity?
• when converted to thermal energy, can be used to heat water for use in homes, buildings, or swimming pools?
• has very little environmental impact because it requires no water for system cooling and generates very few by-products?
• Was used in the late 1950's to power U.S. spacesatellites?
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Erected by Staten Island Zoological Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Communications • Natural Resources.
Location. 40° 37.487′ N, 74° 6.955′ W. Marker is on Staten Island, New York, in Richmond County. It is in West Brighton. Marker can be reached from Clove Road west of Glenwood Place, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 737 Clove Rd, Staten Island NY 10310, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Woodchuck, a.k.a. Groundhog (here, next to this marker); Ducks (within shouting distance of this marker); North American River Otters (within shouting distance of this marker); Cape Barren Goose (within shouting distance of this marker); Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig (within shouting distance of this marker); Mangalitsa Pig (within shouting distance of this marker); Vanishing Cats (within shouting distance of this marker); Australia (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Staten Island.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 15, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 87 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 15, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
