27 October Solar IQ Quiz: What was the first artificial earth satellite powered by solar cells?
ANSWER: B. Vanguard 1 Energy.gov Stated that the space industry was an early adapter in solar technology. The Vanguard 1, in the 1950s was the first artificial earth satellite to be powered by solar cells. It is the oldest manmade satellite in orbit today.
13 October Solar IQ Quiz: Energy consumption has risen what percent since 2000?
ANSWER: D. 100%. Energy consumption has doubled since 2000, making conversion to renewable energy sources critical to maintain our quality of life. click above to follow the link to http://www.renewable-solar.com/ if you live in Minnesota and want to learn more about how you can convert to solar power in 2020 and get incentives to offset the costs.
15 September Solar IQ Quiz: How many mirrors are used at the largest concentrating solar power facility in the US, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System?
ANSWER: D. 347,000. The Ivanpah plant uses Power Towers and has a gross capacity of 392 megawatts (MW). The plant deploys 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors focusing solar energy on boilers located on three 459 ft (139.9 m) tall solar power towers.
8 September Solar IQ Quiz: What is the largest Solar Power Plant in the US?
ANSWER: Answer: B. Solar Star Power Plant, formerly known as Antelope Valley Solar Projects. Completed in 2015, the 579 MW Solar Star Power Plant currently stands as the world’s largest operating solar farm. Located in Rosamond, California, this solar power plant uses 1.7 million solar panels made by SunPower and spreads over 13 square kilometers (3,200 acres). It will deliver enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 255,000 homes.
By Comparison Desert Sunlight solar Farm comes in at 550 MW and is located in the Sonoran Desert of California; the Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 MW photovoltaic solar power plant located in San Luis Obispo County, California; and the Copper Mountain Solar Facility, located in Boulder City, Nevada, follows at 458 MW.
1 September Solar IQ Quiz: Which of the following technologies is NOT used in concentrating solar power?
ANSWER: C. Cathode Ray Tube. according to energy.gov, 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.
25 August Solar IQ Quiz: What does the word PHOTOVOLTAIC mean?
ANSWER: B. Light-electricity
"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!
20 August Solar IQ Quiz: Which US State Generates the most utility scale Solar Power?
ANSWER: A. California
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. Since that time, California has continued to lead the nation in solar energy generation. 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. California then added more in 2015 and 2016.
18 August Solar IQ Quiz; In 2019, what percent of all generating capacity in the United States electric grid was solar?
ANSWER: D 1.8%
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. In 2015, for the first time, more solar generating capacity was added than natural gas in the U.S. (Source: FERC)source EIA.gov
