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.
143 Solar Energy Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- 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
- Located in Vermont, what was the first U.S. city to provide its residents with 100% sustainable energy production that shares its name with a famous Coat Factory founded in 1972?
Answer: Burlington
- With atomic number 48 and symbol “Cd”, what element is used in the construction of some solar panels and batteries?
Answer: Cadmium
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- With technology based on an all-back-contact solar cell invented at Stanford University, what is the name of the American energy company that designs and manufactures photovoltaic cells and is publicly traded with SPWR as its ticker?
Answer: SunPower
- 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? (Hint: They’re sometimes called central inverters)
Answer: String
- “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? (Hint: It was also called the Holden Solar Trek but that’s far less superhero sounding than “The Quiet Achiever”)
Answer: Car
- 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
- As the name suggests, the charge controller regulates how much power goes from the solar array to which part of the setup? (Hint: It’s kind of like the “backup” part of the system that kicks in on a cloudy day)
Answer: Battery
- 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
- 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
- A big part of managing any equipment energy is what “T” machine, designed to be rotated by water, gas, or other fluids?
Answer: Turbine
- 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
- Spreading across 17 square miles, the giant Tengger Desert Solar Park is located in the Ningxia province of what country?
Answer: China
- 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
- 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
- A unit of electrical power equal to one joule per second was named after a Scottish inventor known for his work on the steam engine, not for a Houston Texans defensive end. What is this unit?
Answer: Watt
- 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
- A solar panel works by enabling photons (particles of light) to knock electrons free from atoms. This then generates a flow of electricity, specifically DC. What does DC stand for when referring to electricity?
Answer: Direct current
- 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
- What element, atomic number 3 on the periodic table, is an essential component of batteries often used to store harvested solar energy?
Answer: Lithium
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Solar installations usually use which “cycle” battery because they do well even if they go to a low charge (charge/discharge) a lot. (Hint: They’re usually lithium or lead acid)
Answer: Deep
- 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
- The Japanese yachtsman Kenichi Horie was the first person to use solar power to cross what body of water in 1996?
Answer: Pacific Ocean
- Augustin Mouchot successfully demonstrated a solar steam engine in 1878 at the Universal Exposition which was coincidentally hosted in his home country that year. What was the country?
Answer: France
- Eventually ordered removed by Reagan, solar panels were installed on the White House roof in the 1970s by which president?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Spread out about 200km north of Jodhpur, the massive Badhla Solar Park services what country?
Answer: India
- Commonly used in solar cells, the compound abbreviated CdTe stands for "Cadmium" WHAT? It's also the name of a town in Colorado.
Answer: Telluride
- 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
- 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
- Located in the western state of Gujarat, Modhera bills itself as the first fully solar village in what populous South Asian country?
Answer: India
- 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
- 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
- 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? (Hint: Today, it’s also the only major manufacturer that’s based in the U.S. and not China)
Answer: First Solar
- Solar cells made from which semiconductor material were first demonstrated by researchers at Bell Labs in 1954?
Answer: Silicon
- 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
- Which D-term applies to generation that is happening close to where the power will be used?
Answer: Distributed
- 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
- 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
- What superpower nation is the world's leading producer of solar energy?
Answer: China
- Solar cables that connect modules, arrays, and sub-fields are typically made of what 29th element on the periodic table?
Answer: Copper
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Although the technology has existed for at least 50 years, in the 2000s was the first time that efficacy and output increased enough in LED lights to be used in applications such as car headlights. What does LED stand for?
Answer: Light emitting diode
- 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
- 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
- What “S” solar energy company based out of Houston, TX is one of the top companies in the U.S. 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
- 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
- A solar balloon expands and gains buoyancy when solar radiation heats the air inside the object. These balloons are almost always what color?
Answer: Black
- 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
- 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
- In 2016, the Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 became the first experimental, solar-powered version of which mode of transportation complete a round-the-world trip?
Answer: Airplane
- 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
- "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
- It is estimated that the Earth receives about 174 PW of energy from the Sun annually. What does PW stand for?
Answer: Petawatt
- 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
- The U.S.'s leading state in solar energy typically generates more than 30% of the nation's total each month. What state is this?
Answer: California
- 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
- 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
- What term beginning with A is the relative path length of the direct solar beam radiance through the atmosphere?
Answer: Airmass
- 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
- 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
- In November 2019, a Minneapolis-based retailer announced that it met its goal of 500 locations with installed rooftop solar panels one year ahead of schedule. What is this company?
Answer: Target
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Typically abbreviated to “cd”, what is the SI unit of luminous intensity in a given direction?
Answer: Candela
- California has the most solar installations solar installation of any U.S. state with over a million, but which northern state has the least with fewer than fifty?
Answer: North Dakota
- Sort of a nickname for “metal oxide varistor,” which component can you use to protect an electric current from a surge?
Answer: Movistor
- 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
- Which carnival ride on Santa Monica Pier is the only one of its kind in the world that’s solar-powered?
Answer: Ferris Wheel
- 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
- 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
- 83. 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
- 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
- "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 US for more than eight weeks?
Answer: Lorde
- 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
- 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
- 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
- What is the three word term for the amount of energy a battery can provide over its entire life?
Answer: Total Energy Throughput
- 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
- Lyndon and Peter Rive founded SolarCity, which is now the solar power foray of what musky tech company owned by their cousin?
Answer: Tesla
- The "Institute of Technology" in what U.S. state was the first college to offer a Bachelor of Science program in Renewable Energy Engineering? The campus of this school is in the city of Klamath Falls and there are additional campuses in Wilsonville and Salem.
Answer: Oregon
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- The surface of the Sun has a temperature of about 5,800 Kelvin. What is that temperature in degrees Celsius?
Answer: 5,527 degrees Celsius
- What is the watery-sounding name for an underground layer of liquid-bearing permeable rock that are occasionally used as a seasonal storage place for thermal energy?
Answer: Aquifer
- The dominant semiconducting material used in current photovoltaic technology is typically referred to as c-Si. What does that hyphenated series of three letters stand for?
Answer: Crystalline silicon
- 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
- 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
- Yawn! Commonly used as a dopant in solar cells, what metalloid chemical element has atomic number 5?
Answer: Boron
- Founded in 2006 and considered one of the largest providers of solar inverters and monitoring systems for photovoltaic arrays, what is the name of the Israeli company founded by Guy Sella with a "sharp" name?
Answer: SolarEdge
- 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
- "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
- The three largest operational solar thermal power stations in the U.S. are Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, Solar Energy Generating Systems, and the Mojave Solar Project. Each of these is located in what state?
Answer: California
- 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
- 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
- Which A-term is a measure of how much a surface can reflect sunlight?
Answer: Albedo
- 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
- What two-word alliterative term is used for an idealized object that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation?
Answer: Black body
- 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
- 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
- Solar energy has been used to aid in the distillation of saline water since at least the 16th-century when Arab chemists were documented using the process. More recently, a large-scale solar distillation project was built in 1872 in a South American mining town named Las Salinas in what country?
Answer: Chile
- 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
- What "A" name means a dopant material such as boron that can receive a free electron to facilitate electron transfer?
Answer: Acceptor
- 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
- In a photovoltaic device, what “A” general material readily take in photons to take in charge carriers?
Answer: Absorber
- What creatively named solar company was founded by Shawn Qu in Ontario in 2001? The company has more than 13,000 employees today, is publicly traded on the NASDAQ, and manufactures solar PV modules.
Answer: Canadian Solar
- Benban Solar Park is a desert-located solar power station with planned capacity 3.8 TWh. It is currently the 4th-largest solar power plant in the world with plans to become the largest at some point. In what country would you find this massive installation that is visible from outer space?
Answer: Egypt
- With regards 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
- 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
- Which measurement shows how much of the atmosphere sunlight has to pass through to get to the ground?
Answer: Air Mass
- 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
- The Sun is (of course) the closest star to Earth. What star is the next closest? It's slightly closer than the similarly named Alpha Centauri A.
Answer: Proxima Centauri
- 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
- Listed as one of the top 200 US companies by annual revenue, what is the current name of the American energy company with the greatest production and storage capacity for wind and solar energy? The company began its corporate life under the name Florida Power & Light Company in 1925.
Answer: NextEra Energy
- In the 2010s, the size of photovoltaic power stations to generate and store solar energy has increased dramatically. Back in 2012, the largest project to-date was completed in Arizona and had a capacity of 247 megawatts. Only eight years later, there are now two power stations with capacity for more than 2,000 megawatts each, both of which are located in what country?
Answer: India
- 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
- Which unit of solar irradiance (or heat transmission) is abbreviated Ly and is equal to 41,868 Joules/m2?
Answer: Langley
- Surname only is fine: 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 / Edmond Becquerel / Becquerel
- What “F” company is an Austrian photovoltaic manufacturer based in Pettenbach? It was founded by its namesake in 1945.
Answer: Fronius International
- 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
- What eight letter term is the lowest amount of electricity used by a grid or or electrical system, generally over 24 hours, and helps calculate minimum demand?
Answer: Baseload
- 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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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.