6 solar self-check

Put your brainpower to the test with our solar energy quiz!

http://energy.gov/articles/quiz-test-your-solar-iqGovernment information at DOE websites is in the public domain.

QUIZ: Test your Solar IQ

http://energy.gov/articles/quiz-test-your-solar-iq

a. 173 terawattsb. 1.73 terawattsc. 17,300 terawattsd. 173,000 terawatts

1. How much solar energy reaches the Earth's surface at any given moment?


Solar energy is the most abundant energy source on the planet. Enough sunlight hits the Earth's surface in 1 1/2 hours to power the entire world's electricity consumption for a year!

1. How much solar energy reaches the Earth's surface at any given moment?


a. 5.5%b. 13.6%c. 29.4%d. 7.2%

2. Of all new generating capacity added to the U.S. electrical grid in 2015, what percentage was solar?


While solar accounts for less than 2% of U.S. electrical generating capacity overall, it is one of the fastest-growing energy markets in the country. With solar power continuing to get more affordable and new installations happening every day, the solar industry is booming. For the first time, more solar generating capacity was added in 2015 than natural gas in the U.S. (Source: FERC)

2. Of all new generating capacity added to the U.S. electrical grid in 2015, what percentage was solar?


a. Californiab. Arizonac. Texasd. Florida

3. Which U.S. state generates the most utility-scale solar power?


In 2014, California became the first state to generate more than 5 percent of its annual utility-scale electricity from solar power, according to the Energy Information Administration. With several large solar plants phased into operation in 2014, California's utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger) facilities generated a record 9.9 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity in 2014, an increase of 6.1 million MWh from 2013 and more than three times the output of the next-highest state, Arizona. In total, nearly 1,900 MW of new utility-scale solar capacity was added, bringing the state's utility-scale capacity for all solar technologies to 5,400 MW by the end of 2014.

3. Which U.S. state generates the most utility-scale solar power?


a. Sun-poweredb. Light-cellsc. Light-electricityd. Solar-energy

4. What does the word photovoltaic mean?


"Photovoltaic" has two parts: photo, derived from the Greek word for light, and volt, from electricity pioneer Alessandro Volta. And that's exactly what photovoltaic systems do -- turn light into electricity!

4. What does the word photovoltaic mean?


Click icon to add picture

a. American physicist Enrico Fermi

b. Italian physicist Alessandro Volta

c. German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

d. French physicist Edmond Becquerel

5. Who discovered the photovoltaic effect?


Edmond Becquerel was the first person to realize that sunlight could produce an electric current in a solid material in 1839, but it took more than a century for scientists to fully understand this process and develop a practical solar cell.

5. Who discovered the photovoltaic effect?



a. Organic cellsb. Plastic cellsc. Polymer cellsd. Crystalline silicon cells

6. What are the most common photovoltaic cells used today?


Unveiled by Bell Labs in 1954, silicon cells were the very first successful photovoltaic (PV) technology, and they remain the most common PV cells in use today.

6. What are the most common photovoltaic cells used today?



a. 40%b. 80%c. 20%d. 60%

7. Roughly how much did the cost of PV solar panels decrease between 2008 and 2015?


Thanks in part to research funded by the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative, photovoltaic solar panels have gotten dramatically cheaper over the past decade. SunShot was created with the aim of making solar power cost-competitive with fossil fuels by 2020, and it has made significant strides toward that goal by supporting the development of more efficient solar cells and cost-effective manufacturing processes.

7. Roughly how much did the cost of PV solar panels decrease between 2008 and 2015?



a. Connection feesb. Laborc. Permitsd. Solar panels

8. Which of these is NOT considered a "soft cost" of solar power?


Today, soft costs -- that is, all the costs and fees aside from the solar hardware itself -- account for more than half of the price of installing a solar energy system. By taking steps to help reduce soft costs, the Department of Energy is working to make affordable solar power a reality for those who want it.

8. Which of these is NOT considered a "soft cost" of solar power?



a. Staticb. Chemicalc. Thermald. Magnetic

9. What form of energy do concentrating solar power technologies use to generate electricity?


Concentrating solar power technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto receivers that collect solar energy and convert it to heat. This thermal energy can then be used to produce electricity via a steam turbine or heat engine that drives a generator.

9. What form of energy do concentrating solar power technologies use to generate electricity?



a. Power towerb. Linear Fresnelc. Cathode ray tubed. Parabolic trough

10. Which of the following is NOT a technology used in concentrating solar power?


Parabolic trough, linear fresnel and power tower are all types of concentrating solar power systems. They may look very different, but they operate on the same principle, focusing the sun's rays on a central receiver.

10. Which of the following is NOT a technology used in concentrating solar power?



a. 350,000b. 3500c. 350d. 35,000

11. About how many mirrors are used at Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, the largest concentrating solar power facility in the U.S.?


Spanning 3,500 acres of Southern California desert, Ivanpah's 173,500 "heliostats" (each made up of two mirrors) focus the sun's rays on three 459-foot-tall, heat-collecting "power towers." Water circulated through these towers turns to steam, driving turbines that can generate up to 377 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power 140,000 homes in California!

11. About how many mirrors are used at Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, the largest concentrating solar power facility in the U.S.?


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6 solar self-check

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