Solar energy is the energy that is harnessed from the sun's rays. This energy is converted into electricity and can be used to power homes, buildings, and even vehicles. With the growing concern over the effects of climate change and the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, solar energy has become an increasingly important topic. There is a wide range of solar energy trivia questions that can be asked, whether you're a scientist, engineer, or simply someone who is interested in the subject.
Here are some examples of solar energy trivia questions you might come across: What is the name of the device that is used to convert sunlight into electricity? What is the unit of measurement for solar power? What is the name of the process by which solar energy is converted into electricity? How many hours of full sunlight is necessary to power a home for a day? These questions cover a wide range of solar energy topics, from the technology used to harness and convert the energy, to the science behind it, and its practical applications.
In addition to the various technical aspects of solar energy, there are also many fun and interesting facts to learn about solar energy. For example, did you know that the device that is used to convert sunlight into electricity is called a solar panel? Or that the unit of measurement for solar power is called the watt? These trivia questions will not only test your knowledge but also give you a glimpse into the many fascinating aspects of solar energy, the history of its development, the different types of solar technologies, and its impact on the environment and society.
1. Solar-powered desalination plants use the sun’s energy to take which shakable mineral you might keep on your kitchen table out of ocean water, thereby making it safe to drink?
Answer: Salt
2. While you may think that we only have him to thank for E = mc2, which scientist actually won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the photoelectric effect?
Answer: Albert Einstein
3. Located in Vermont and sharing its name with a discount coat chain, what was the first U.S. city to provide its residents with 100% sustainable energy production?
Answer: Burlington
4. With atomic number 48 and symbol “Cd”, what element is used in the construction of some solar panels and batteries?
Answer: Cadmium
5. Billing itself as the largest solar-powered high-rise in the world, the Sun-Moon Mansion is a 75,000-square-meter building in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, in what country?
Answer: China
6. According to a 2023 report from SunWiz, what Southern Hemisphere nation has the highest penetration of solar photovoltaics in the world, with the highest percentage in the state of Queensland?
Answer: Australia
7. You might think of it more as something you’d want for a new phone or computer, should something go wrong, but solar panels usually come with what kind of written guarantee that they’ll last around 10 years without failing?
Answer: Warranty
8. The National Center for Photovoltaics exists under the umbrella of what Department of Energy organization whose name is abbreviated to NREL?
Answer: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
9. A key component of a solar system are inverters, which are necessary to take all that energy from the sun and harness it for power. What kind of inverter system involves wiring a bunch of panels together to convert the DC current electricity into AC current electricity? They’re sometimes called central inverters.
Answer: String
10. "The Quiet Achiever” was hand built by Larry and Garry Perkins as the first practical, long-distance, solar-powered version of what mode of transportation? It was also called the Holden Solar Trek but that’s far less superhero sounding than “The Quiet Achiever."
Answer: Car
11. Which solar energy company headquartered in San Jose, California was founded in 1985 by Richard Swanson and originally made panels, but now offers entire solar systems for customers?
Answer: SunPower
12. Lyndon and Peter Rive founded SolarCity, which is now the solar power foray of what musky tech company owned by their cousin?
Answer: Tesla
13. As the name suggests, the charge controller regulates how much power goes from the solar array to which part of the setup? It’s kind of like the “backup” part of the system that kicks in on a cloudy day.
Answer: Battery
14. AR Coating is used in solar cells to increase the amount of light absorbed into the cell. What do the letters AR stand for?
Answer: Anti-reflective
15. By the end of 2025, a Dutch company is hoping to start production on the first affordable solar-powered car on the market. What is the car manufacturer's name, the same as the surname of a character from "Toy Story"?
Answer: Lightyear
16. The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, the largest solar power plant in the world, is located in what California desert? It is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Answer: Mojave Desert
17. Jonathan Scott, who made a 2020 PBS solar-energy documentary called "Power Trip," is best known as the co-host, with his twin Drew, of what HGTV real estate show?
Answer: Property Brothers
18. A big part of managing any equipment energy is what “t” machine, designed to be rotated by water, gas, or other fluids?
Answer: Turbine
19. What western state has the largest solar PV capacity in the United States, with over 2.5x as much capacity as the second-place state?
Answer: California
20. Spreading across 17 square miles, the giant Tengger Desert Solar Park is located in the Ningxia province of what country?
Answer: China
21. What “C” term used in solar energy refers to the negative pole of an electrolytic cell, the opposite of an anode? A ray tube using this word powers CRT televisions.
Answer: Cathode
22. Which piece of equipment takes the direct current power from solar panels and turns it into alternating current power that your home can use?
Answer: Inverter
23. What element, atomic number 3 on the periodic table, is an essential component of batteries often used to store harvested solar energy?
Answer: Lithium
24. What kind of system can be used to let solar panels move to follow the sun as its path changes throughout the day, thereby making the most of its energy?
Answer: Tracker
25. Totalling over 1 million solar panels, the 400MW Western Downs Green Power Hub has the capacity to power the equivalent of 235,000 homes in which southern hemisphere country?
Answer: Australia
26. In a 2012 speech, Barack Obama compared Boulder City's Copper Mountain Solar Facility to what ginormous hydroelectric piece of infrastructure straddling the Arizona-Nevada border?
Answer: Hoover Dam
27. The world’s first silicon solar cell was built in 1954 by Bell Laboratories, the former AT&T research company now owned by what Finnish telecommunications company who sold the first camera phone in North America?
Answer: Nokia
28. In 1912, Giacomo Ciamician proposed using the sun’s energy to create carbohydrates and oxygen and harnessing the energy, thereby eliminating dependence on fossil fuels. This process mimics what chemical reaction already fundamental to the natural world?
Answer: Photosynthesis
29. What term beginning with C is when the DC solar system output exceeds the maximum capacity of the inverter and power is lost?
Answer: Clipping
30. Tongwei, JA, Aiko, Jinko... the world's largest solar panel manufacturers, are all Chinese, but what country (perhaps surprisingly given it has territory in the Arctic Circle) is home to the largest solar panel manufacturing company (as measured by GWp of modules produced) outside of China?
Answer: Canada
31. The angle of incidence is an important concept in solar efficiency—it’s the angle at which a ray of light strikes a surface relative to a line perpendicular to that surface. What is the very average, expected, even predictable name for that perpendicular line?
Answer: Normal
32. CSP is a system that generates solar power using mirrors or lenses to focus a large area of sunlight into a receiver. The "SP" stands for "Solar Power", but what does the "C" stand for?
Answer: Concentrated
33. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter adopted solar early, plopping down 10 acres of panels on his family farm used to harvest what legume also known as a goober?
Answer: Peanut
34. Solar installations usually use which “cycle” battery because they do well even if they go to a low charge (charge/discharge) a lot. They’re usually lithium or lead acid.
Answer: Deep
35. What sun-powered transportation experiment in France took a real bad turn in 2016, and didn’t end up paving the way for a new eco-friendly infrastructure?
Answer: Solar Roadway
36. Bell Labs showed off the first functional silicon solar cell in 1954 by powering a miniaturized version of what fairground ride that you'd find on Chicago's Navy Pier?
Answer: Ferris wheel
37. Eventually ordered removed by Reagan, solar panels were installed on the White House roof in the 1970s by which president?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
38. The per capita leaders in the use of solar hot water systems are Israel and what Mediterranean island nation with Greek and Turkish as its official languages?
Answer: Cyprus
39. What EU nation that's home to the Pompidou Centre and Reims Cathedral passed a law in 2023 requiring parking lots of more than 80 spaces to have canopies of solar panels?
Answer: France
40. What sort of diode beginning with S is a special diode with a very low voltage drop, usually in the .15 to .25 volt range?
Answer: Schottky diode
41. Spread out about 200km north of Jodhpur, the massive Badhla Solar Park services what country?
Answer: India
42. Located in the western state of Gujarat, Modhera bills itself as the first fully-solar village in what populous South Asian country?
Answer: India
43. In 2017, Apple installed a 17-megawatt rooftop solar array in the center of its 175-acre Apple Park campus in what California city?
Answer: Cupertino
44. Defined as an agreed amount paid to customers for any unused electricity produced by their solar power system and fed back to the electricity grid, FIT stands for Feed-In what?
Answer: Tariff
45. CFLs use far less energy than conventional lightbulbs. The F and L stand for "fluorescent" and "lightbulb." What does the C stand for?
Answer: Compact
46. Introduced by Montana Senator James E. Murray, the Resources and Conservation Act of 1959 paved the way for what U.S. government agency to form in 1970?
Answer: The Environmental Protection Agency
47. Which solar panel maker in the United States was one of the earliest in the industry (no surprise given its name) when Harold McMaster started the original company (Glasstech Solar) in the mid-1980s? Today, it’s also the only major manufacturer that’s based in the U.S. and not China.
Answer: First Solar
48. What is the term beginning with B for the thin wires or ribbons that carry electricity from the solar cells?
Answer: Busbars
49. The Numurkah Solar Farm is a solar farm found in which southern hemisphere country?
Answer: Australia
50. Solar cells made from which semiconductor material were first demonstrated by researchers at Bell Labs in 1954?
Answer: Silicon
51. The first American patent for a solar panel was awarded in 1901. It was awarded to what renowned, somewhat eccentric Serbian-American inventor?
Answer: Nikola Tesla
52. Which D-term applies to generation that is happening close to where the power will be used?
Answer: Distributed
53. The largest solar project in Africa is Benban Solar Park, located in the desert approximately 50 km north of Aswan in what country?
Answer: Egypt
54. Amazon announced in October 2023 that its wind and solar projects make it the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in what country, the world's largest democracy?
Answer: India
55. Although a 9 kW PV system was installed in a grounds-keeping building on the property under George Bush, which U.S. President was responsible for the installation of the current solar panels on the White House roof, which was done as part of his commitment to renewable energy?
Answer: Barack Obama
56. After he casually discovered the photovoltaic effect at age 19 when he was messing around in his father’s lab, which French physicist also tried experimenting with photography of the solar spectrum?
Answer: Edmond Becquerel
57. What superpower nation is the world's leading producer of solar energy?
Answer: China
58. Every building in the Solar Settlement at Schlierberg runs on 100% solar energy. What Euro country is this clean-energy-conscious community found in?
Answer: Germany
59. Solar cables that connect modules, arrays, and sub-fields are typically made of what 29th element on the periodic table?
Answer: Copper
60. RECs are tradable and non-tangible energy commodities representing proof of a certain amount of energy being generated by more climate-friendly means than fossil fuels. What does REC stand for?
Answer: Renewable Energy Certificates
61. A massive solar farm meant to alleviate outages is being sold in blocks to what organization that manages Texas's electrical grid, and whose acronym is only one letter different than a certain futuristic Disney World theme park?
Answer: ERCOT
62. The Sakaka Solar Power Plant Project in Al Jawf is part of the Vision 2030 modernization plan of what Middle Eastern country?
Answer: Saudi Arabia
63. Which term that refers to the scattering of the Sun’s light through a liquid or gas was named after the Indian scientist who discovered it and not the tasty noodle dish for which it is a homophone?
Answer: Raman
64. In July 2021, what southeast Asian city-state unveiled one of the world's largest floating solar power farms, with a panel area equivalent to about 45 football fields?
Answer: Singapore
65. During 2021's UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, activists dressed as Pikachu to protest the continued use of coal by what Asian nation?
Answer: Japan
66. The Quiet Achiever is considered the world's first practical long-distance solar-powered car powered entirely by photovoltaic solar cells. In which Southern Hemisphere country, which now hosts the Word Solar Challenge, was it built?
Answer: Australia
67. China Energy Engineering Corp. has proposed a 1,000-megawatt floating solar plant to be constructed on the Kariba Dam in what country in southern Africa whose capital is Harare?
Answer: Zimbabwe
68. What “S” solar energy company based out of Houston, TX is one of the top companies in the US for residential solar installations? Its name is a made up compound word, where the first half is the center of the solar system, and the second half is a star that shows a sudden increase in brightness.
Answer: Sunnova
69. Aptly named after the Spanish for “sunny spot,” The Solana Generating Station was the first solar plant in the U.S. to use molten salt thermal energy storage. What western desert state can you find it in?
Answer: Arizona
70. What mathematical term describes the following effect: the voltage of a solar cell decreases as the panel heats up?
Answer: Temperature coefficient
71. Focus: the U.S. Department of Energy funds research and development into CSP tech, where the "S" and "P" stand for "Solar Power" or "Solar-Thermal Power" and the "C" stands for what verb?
Answer: Concentrating
72. American Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts can now earn solar energy merit badges after completing a program developed by a national non-profit that goes by what very guessable three-letter acronym?
Answer: SUN
73. In 2016, the Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 became the first experimental, solar-powered version of which mode of transportation to complete a round-the-world trip?
Answer: Airplane
74. In October 2023, Amazon completed a string of projects adding more than 1 GW of clean energy to European power grids, including Makrihoria of Aetoloakarnania, a pioneering project in what southern European country?
Answer: Greece
75. Reason," a 1941 short story in which solar power is harvested and sent to other planets via microwave beams, is a prescient work by what sci-fi author of "I, Robot?
Answer: Isaac Asimov
76. Literally meaning “new day”, Nowruz is the new year in the Solar Hijri calendar. The Solar Hijri calendar is the official calendar of which country, the second largest in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia?
Answer: Iran
77. It is estimated that the Earth receives about 174 PW of energy from the Sun annually. What does PW stand for?
Answer: Petawatt
78. Since it looks a bit like a billed bird, what’s the term used for the curve on a graph that shows how the relationship between available solar power and demand changes throughout the day?
Answer: Duck
79. Which state, with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean, has the highest amount of solar installations per capita?
Answer: Hawaii
80. The Anasazi Native Americans of the American Southwest used an early form of solar energy in the 1200s, situating their houses to capture sunlight for warmth. The Anasazi are ancestors of what Native American group, who lend their “P” name to adobe houses?
Answer: Pueblo
81. What country is boosting efforts to use more solar power to prevent rolling blackouts such as those in its rural KwaZulu-Natal province?
Answer: South Africa
82. What term beginning with A is the relative path length of the direct solar beam radiance through the atmosphere?
Answer: Airmass
83. A British billionaire attempts to use a satellite to weaponize solar energy in what 2002 James Bond film starring Halle Berry as NSA agent Jinx Johnson?
Answer: Die Another Day
84. U.S. inventor Frank Shuman built the world's first thermal solar power station in 1913 at Maadi, in what African country? The power station provided energy to power pumps for agriculture.
Answer: Egypt
85. Important in solar energy calculations, what A-word means the angle between true south and the point on the horizon directly below the sun?
Answer: Azimuth
86. Led by Rep. Harry Warren, a 2021 North Carolina state bill could remove the ability to block residential solar panel installation by what non-governmental local groups?
Answer: HOAs
87. In 2021, ENMAX and Cadillac Fairview went all photovoltaic at CF Chinook Centre with a large-scale installation project using what kind of energy?
Answer: Solar
88. Typically abbreviated to “cd”, what is the SI unit of luminous intensity in a given direction?
Answer: Candela
89. California has the most solar installations of any state with over a million, but which northern state has the least with fewer than fifty?
Answer: North Dakota
90. Sort of a nickname for “metal oxide varistor,” which component can you use to protect an electric current from a surge?
Answer: Movistor
91. BP America has announced plans to build a solar farm near Toledo, Ohio, whose entire output is set to be used by what parent company of Facebook?
Answer: Meta
92. Which carnival ride on Santa Monica Pier is the only one of its kind in the world that’s solar-powered?
Answer: Ferris Wheel
93. One of the globe's premier solar-powered vehicle competitions, the 2023 edition of the World Solar Challenge will be a race from Darwin to Adelaide in what country?
Answer: Australia
94. Section 48(e) of what U.S. federal law, passed in 2022 and known as "IRA" for short, offers tax credits for solar and wind technology, with an emphasis on reaching disadvantaged populations?
Answer: Inflation Reduction Act
95. Niue ensures Internet access even in remote parts of the island with no electricity because it uses solar-powered WiFi (Solarfi). What country does Niue neighbor (and is in free association with)?
Answer: New Zealand
96. What sort of metering is an arrangement where all solar electricity generated is transferred to the electricity grid via a separate meter?
Answer: Gross metering
97. "Solar Power" is the name of a 2021 single by which regal New Zealand singer-songwriter, whose debut single in 2013 saw her become the youngest artist to have a song stay at number one in the U.S. for more than eight weeks?
Answer: Lorde
98. When it was launched in 1958, Vanguard I became the first solar-powered version of what outer-space orbiter? Bonus fact: It was the second to be launched by the U.S. and is the oldest artificial object still orbiting Earth.
Answer: Satellite
99. Sarah Slusser is CEO of what U.S. solar company that’s got offices throughout the country but is headquartered in Durham, NC, and has a very naturalistic name?
Answer: Cypress Creek Renewables
100. What term beginning with I is a measure of solar energy or light energy from the sun on the Earth at a point in time?
Answer: Irradiance
101. What is the three word term for the amount of energy a battery can provide over its entire life?
Answer: Total Energy Throughput
102. Also equivalent to 1,000 watts an hour, a kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy which equals 3.6 “MJ”, a mega-sized multiple of what “J” unit of measurement that sounds like a gem and is named after an English physicist whose first and middle is James Prescott?
Answer: Joule
103. Although still the largest solar thermal power station in the world when built in 2014, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility was scaled back from its original 440 MW design to avoid disturbing the habitat of a species of what slow-moving reptile native to the Mojave Desert?
Answer: Tortoise
104. Similar to what you'd have on the side of your house to track your traditional electricity use, what same monitoring process applies to tracking your solar use and production?
Answer: Metering
105. Aquasol, a new floating solar farm, is found off the coast of which South American country?
Answer: Colombia
106. In the 1950s, Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson at Bell Labs had the “bright” idea to make the first of what panels that harvest natural light for energy?
Answer: Silicon solar cell
107. What effect, which can be combined with solar power, occurs when solid materials like crystals, ceramics, or even bone, generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress?
Answer: Piezoelectricity
108. During the Solar Impulse 2’s successful quest to become the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the world in 2016, co-pilots André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard used what United Arab Emirates capital city as the start and finish line for the plane's global expedition?
Answer: Abu Dhabi
109. In solar power, the abbreviation DOD, which is the percentage of the battery's energy that has been released relative to the overall capacity of the battery, stands for "depth of" what?
Answer: Discharge
110. What colorful two-word term is used to describe fixed-income securities that fund projects designed to help the environment, such as solar energy or sustainable water management?
Answer: Green bonds
111. In a concentrating solar power (CSP) system, the two-tank direct system, two-tank indirect system, and single-tank thermocline system are all types of what?
Answer: Storage
112. In 2018, King Carl XVI Gustaf had solar panels installed on the roof of the Kungliga Slottet, or Royal Palace, to reduce the carbon footprint of the royal family of what Scandinavian nation?
Answer: Sweden
113. In the late 19th century, a number of scientists observed the electrical conductivity of what element, atomic number 34, especially when exposed to light? It kind of sounds like the name of the Tejano singer with the surname Quintanilla-Perez.
Answer: Selenium
114. Throwback to high school chem class! What do you call an atom that can have a positive or negative charge, depending on whether it gains or loses electrons?
Answer: Ion
115. What solar power plant found in Mexico is the largest solar power farm in North America?
Answer: Villanueva
116. Households in Aklan, Antique, Palawan, and Davao were part of a home solar power program courtesy of PEEP, the Energy Efficiency Project of what Pacific island nation?
Answer: Philippines
117. Which B-term applies to how much electrical power (the load) a grid needs to be able to supply within a given timeframe (say, 24 hours)?
Answer: Base
118. What is the watery-sounding name for an underground layer of liquid-bearing permeable rock that is occasionally used as a seasonal storage place for thermal energy?
Answer: Aquifer
119. Showing potential for high performance and low production cost in solar cells, what "P" family of minerals shares a crystal structure with CaTiO3, the original mineral of that name?
Answer: Perovskite
120. Spanning more than 1,800 miles, the World Solar Challenge is an every-other-year car race for solar-powered vehicles across what country?
Answer: Australia
121. What two word term is the voltage required to counteract the self-discharge of the battery at a certain temperature?
Answer: Float Charge
122. Yawn! Commonly used as a dopant in solar cells, what metalloid chemical element has atomic number 5?
Answer: Boron
123. Done by coating a piece of selenium with a thin layer of gold, which inventor created the first ever solar cell in 1883?
Answer: Charles Fritts
124. "Solar" is a 2010 novel about a physicist pursuing solar-energy solutions to climate change by what English novelist who also wrote "Atonement"?
Answer: Ian McEwan
125. We're positive! We can use the power of the sunlight down here on Earth thanks in part to the fusion of what subatomic particle in the center of the Sun?
Answer: Proton
126. The U.S. Department of Energy started touting the accelerated permitting of SolarApp+ via a tour by what energy secretary who took office in 2021?
Answer: Jennifer Granholm
127. Between 2021 and 2023, the global installed capacity of concentrated solar power went from 6.8 GW to 7.5 GW, mostly because of a few new CSP projects in the UAE, Dubai, and what Asian country?
Answer: China
128. A member and former leader of the Labour Party, which UK energy secretary promised a "rooftop revolution" in solar energy in that country?
Answer: Ed Miliband
129. For many years, homeowners who installed solar panels on their homes were connected exclusively to the local power grid. Starting in 1994, this concept was expanded and home solar panels were connected to larger regional power grids in what Spanish-speaking country?
Answer: Spain
130. When it was founded in 2008, what company was the largest renewable energy company in Europe and went on to win a European Solar Prize award in 2014, and operates more than 1,200 plants on five continents worldwide?
Answer: Enel Green Power
131. Which A-term is a measure of how much a surface can reflect sunlight?
Answer: Albedo
132. What is the logical term for the non-hardware costs when installing solar panels? These typically include installation, financing, and permitting costs.
Answer: Soft costs
133. What two-word alliterative term is used for an idealized object that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation?
Answer: Black body
134. A name heard most often nowadays in the world of investment management, what satellite (famously likened to a grapefruit by Nikita Khrushchev) was the first to be solar-powered?
Answer: Vanguard I
135. In 1973, what university was responsible for constructing the first solar residence, named "Solar One," which ran on a hybrid supply of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic power?
Answer: University of Delaware
136. What solar energy company, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona with an ordinal name, was founded in 1999 by Harold McMaster, and sells solar panels, as well as offering general maintenance and recycling of panels?
Answer: First Solar
137. If you want the option of storing and possibly sharing extra solar power from a PV system, what electrical utility structure can it be connected to?
Answer: Grid
138. What "A" name means a dopant material such as boron that can receive a free electron to facilitate electron transfer?
Answer: Acceptor
139. In April 2022, what western European country auctioned the rights to build floating solar panels near its Alqueva Dam for a world-record low price of minus 4.13 euros per megawatt hour for future output?
Answer: Portugal
140. "Doping” solar panels with what element—31 on the periodic table and named for France—has been shown to increase their efficiency and slow degradation?
Answer: Gallium
141. In a photovoltaic device, what “A” general material readily takes in photons to take in charge carriers?
Answer: Absorber
142. To the nearest 5%, how much of the world’s power is generated using Solar PV cells?
Answer: 5%
143. With regard to solar energy, what is the term for services that provide the electricity grid with stability and allow it to continue to operate smoothly?
Answer: Ancillary Services
144. What type of solar cell holds a world record for efficiency with a whopping 47.1% solar conversion rate? We're looking for one hyphenated word here.
Answer: Six-junction
145. Which measurement shows how much of the atmosphere sunlight has to pass through to get to the ground?
Answer: Air Mass
146. In 2016, which country opened the world’s first stretch of solar-powered road—1km (0.6-mile) paved with over 2,800 panels?
Answer: France
147. A recent study showed that the Coachella, Inter-California, and Buena Vista could conserve water while cooling cells if solar panels were put atop what kind of infrastructure?
Answer: Canals
148. With a 3,500 MW capacity, what solar park in China is only second fiddle to the larger planned project of over 10,000 MW, China’s Gonghe Talatan Solar Park?
Answer: Midong Solar Park
149. Not related to a '70s funk band, what property of PV semiconductors indicates the wavelengths of light the material can absorb and convert to electrical energy?
Answer: Bandgap
150. Which unit of solar irradiance (or heat transmission) is abbreviated Ly and is equal to 41,868 Joules/m2?
Answer: Langley
151. An acronym for the temperature at which a cell operates with full sunlight falling on its surface, what does the N stand for in the term NOCT?
Answer: Normal
152. The European Commission bestows an annual prize for achievement in photovoltaic energy conversion, named for what French dude who started all that stuff?
Answer: Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel
153. What “F” company is an Austrian photovoltaic manufacturer based in Pettenbach? It was founded by its namesake in 1945.
Answer: Fronius International
154. What eight letter term is the lowest amount of electricity used by a grid or electrical system, generally over 24 hours, and helps calculate minimum demand?
Answer: Baseload
155. Solar energy inventor and pioneer Frank Shuman wrote the following in the New York Times in what decade? "We have proved ... that after our stores of oil and coal are exhausted the human race can receive unlimited power from the rays of the Sun.
Answer: 1910s
156. What unit of solar irradiance, denoted by the letter L and sometimes used in solar energy calculations, is equal to one gram calorie per square centimeter?
Answer: Langley
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