Discipline: ECE

QUESTIONS BANK
ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY
Even Semester, 2015
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Semester: 8th
Paper code: EC 802C

Group A
Multiple Choice Type Questions (Each carry one [1] marks)
1. What happens that creates electricity?
A) protons move B) electrons move C) neutrons move D) centrinos move
2. Photovoltaic cells do this.
A) Store heat from the sun B) Transform the energy from the sun into electrical
energy C) Take pictures of the sun D) Prevent the spread of bacteria
3. Which fossil fuel is most often used to heat homes?
A) Coal B) Natural Gas

C) Oil D) Wind

4. Which of the following is one example of passive solar?

A) A solar water heater

B) Electricity running through an appliance.

C) Sun shining through a window D) Sun powering a photovoltaic cell

6. You are at the climate conference in Copenhagen going on in December (55 degrees
North latitude). In what direction and angle would you point your solar panels?
A) 40 degrees North B) 70 degrees North C) 40 degrees South D) 70 degrees
South
7. You are standing on the ground, in full sun. The voltmeter hooked to your panel
shows a reading of 3.45 volts. If you got on a 20 ft. roof and kept the solar panel
pointed towards full sun what might you expect the voltage reading to be?
A) 3.45 volts B) 3.82 volts C) 4.51 volts D) 3.23 volts
8. Which of the following states is a leader electricity production from wind?
A) Texas B) Ohio C) Arkansas D) Rhode Island
9. The more common name for solar panels that produce electricity is?

A) Photosolartics B) Photoelectrics C) Photovoltaics D) Simple Cells

10. Photons of light knock lose these in a solar panel?
A) Protons B) Electrons C) Silicons D) Neutrons
11. What is a disadvantage of vertical wind turbines?
A) They can function when mounted only 20 feet off the ground.
B) They take up less space than horizontal turbines.
C) They generate less electricity compared to horizontal turbines.
D) They generate electricity at lower wind speeds.
12. Which of these are essential for producing electricity in a motor?
A) All of the above B) Wire Coils C) Gears to spin D) Magnets
13. Solar panels produce this type of current.
A) DC B) MC C) AC D) TC
14. This is the type of electricity that comes into our homes.
A) TC B) AC C) DC D) MC
15. If the efficiency of a solar panel is higher it will...
A) work in the night B) get hotter than a less efficient panel
C) produce more electricity D) produce less electricity
16. You are in Omaha and it is 9:30 in the morning. In what direction would you point
your solar panels to get the most energy?
A) Northwest B) Southwest C) Southeast D) Northeast
17. You live in the city and want to get a wind turbine installed at your home. Which
would be the most practical?
A) Vertical Turbine B) Horizontal Turbine C) D)
18. Electrons are attracted to...
A) Other Electrons B) Centrinos C) Neutrons D) Protons
19. What should you hook up to solar panels so you can use the power generated from
them with your household appliances?

A) Rotating panel B) AC/DC Converter C) Thin Film D) Inverter

20. If the temperature in July was 88 degrees and a solar panel produced 45 volts,
what would you expect the voltage to be on a 30 degree day in December?
A) 35 volts B) 10 volts C) 90 volts D) 55 volts E) 45 volts

21. Which of the following points (in yellow) would be the best place to install solar
panels at this school? Tell why you think this would be the best spot.
22. Which wire combination would allow me to power a device that needs 6 volts?
A) Two 3 volt solar panels with wires connected red to black with open wires on
the ends B) Two 2 volt solar panels connected in series. C) Two 2 volt solar
panels connected in parallel D) Two 3 volt solar panels connected "black to
black" with no open ends
23. Which of the following is not an advantage of wind power?
A) They produce emissions free electricity (they don't pollute)
B) They can generate electricity at any time
C) Building and maintaining them provides jobs for people
D) They are cost effective after initial startup
24. An inverter does this:
A) Converts AC to DC B) Decreases the voltage C) Converts DC to AC D) Increases
the amps
25. Which fossil fuel has the U.S. had a surplus of recently. It is also being used to
produce electricity instead of coal.
A) Natural Gas B) Oil C) Coal
26. The city of Ankara, Turkey is located at approximately 38 degrees North latitude
(Northern Hemisphere). At what angle should they point their solar panels in
summer for maximum efficiency.
A) 38 degrees facing West B) 23 degrees facing North C) 53 degrees facing South

D) 58 degrees facing North E) 23 degrees facing South

27. My solar panels can generate 60 watts on a full sun day. The water pump it needs
to power require 16 volts and 4 amps. Do I need to add more solar panels?
A) Add another another panel B) Nothing else is needed C) Get rid of a panel or it
might overpower the device. bladeAngle measurementbladeAngle measurement

28. If you lived in Perth, Australia which is located at 31 degrees South latitude
(Southern Hemisphere) - what angle would you point solar panels in the winter?
A) 46 degrees pointing South B) 46 degrees pointing North C) 26 degrees pointing
South D) 26 degrees pointing North
29. What is the approximate wind speed for wind turbines to generate electricity.
A) 20 meters per second B) 1 meter per second C) 3 meters per second D) 10
Meters per second
30. At what speed (approximately) does a typical wind turbine shut off.
A) 25 kph

B) 10 kphb

C) 50 kph

D) 3 kph

31. Nuclear power generates electricity from...

A) heat that eventually spins a turbine B) small explosions that push electrons
C) photons pushing electrons

Group B
[Following Questions as per University Pattern]
1. What are the various sources of energy?
2. What is the usage pattern of the various energy sources in todays world
scenario?
3. What is a realistic estimate of the number of years the fossil fuel energy source
will last?
4. What is the effect of the present usage pattern of energy on environment?
5. What is the effect of the present usage pattern of energy on health?

6.
7.
8.
9.

What are the green house gases?

What are the effects of the green house gases on environment?
What should be the new paradigm for energy usage? Why?
Define the following terms: solar insulation, solar constant,solar attitude angle,
incident angle,collector efficiency.
10. Named the components of solar water heater?
11. What is diffuse radiation ?
12. What is the difference between insolation and irradiance?
13. What is the irradiance incident on a horizontal surface placed on the equator
during the summer solstice day?
14. Explain the heat transfer process in a distillation system.
15. How does one distinguish between convection and mass transfer mode of heat
transfer?
16. Explain the terms thermal resistance, thermal resistivity, thermal coefficient
and thermal conductance.
17. What are the main components of a flat plate solar collector, explain the
function of each?
18. With the help of a neat sketch describe a solar heating system using water
heating solar collectors. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this
method? (16)
19. What is the principle of solar photovoltaic power generation?
20. What are the main elements of a PV system?
21. Write short notes on (i) Solar pumping (ii) Solar Cooking (iii) Solar arrays.
22. Explain the different characteristics of PV system
23. Write and explain wind power equation.
24. What is the type of generator used in wind power plant?
25. Explain briefly about the horizontal wind mills with neat sketch
26. Explain briefly about the vertical wind mills with neat sketch?
27. Define Tip speed ratio, Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT).
28. What is co-efficient of performance?
29. Explain the concept of drag and lift?
30. What is the relationship between the power delivered and the wind speed?
Derive.
31. What is Betz limit?
32. What are the various topologies in which the wind turbines can be connected to
the grid?
33. What is meant by pitch angle and pitch control?
34. Explain with a neat diagram the working of various types of wind generators
35. Why a tall tower is essential for mounting a horizontal axis wind turbine ?
36. What is geothermal power?
37. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of geothermal plant.
38. Mention the type of tidal power turbine
39. Give the advantages of tidal power plant.
40. Draw the block schematic of a micro hydro generation station and explain the
various features.
41. Defined head in micro hydro generation system ?What is the relation of head to
the power delivered?
42. How is head and flow estimated?
43. What are the types of turbines used for hydel power?
44. How is the induction generator connected to the grid?
45. Classify the geothermal sources.

46. . What is the relationship to estimate the wave energy?

47. What are the problems associated with utilization of wave energy?
48. What are the categories of wave energy collection devices?
49. What are shoreline devices and off shore devices? Explain.
50. Write short notes on Solar radiation
51. List some applications of fuel cells.
52. What are the different methods of energy extraction from biomass?
53. What is gasification?
54. Explain anerobic and aerobic digesters?
55. Explain the operation of the fixed dome and floating drum digesters?
56. Describe the application of biomass based energy systems.
57. Explain the construction and working principle of fuel cell with neat sketch
58. What is polarization? List the different types of polarizations that occur in fuel
cells.Show how does the electrode structure help in reducing the polarization?
59. Give some examples of hybrid energy systems that you see in every day life?
60. Compare the three water heating systems one which is based on electric grid
alone, one that is based on solar thermal collectors and one that is based on a
combination of electric grid and solar thermal collectors.
61. Draw the block schematic of a hybrid electric vehicle. What are the different
hybrid energies are used?
62. What are the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid energy based systems?
63. With the help of a diagram, explain the working of solar water heating.

GROUP C
1. Mention any two applications of solar energy.
2. What are the instruments used for measuring solar radiation ?Describe their
principles for data recoding.
3. What are the modes of heat transfer?
4. *Explain PV effect.What is Energy payback period?
5. What are the different applications of solar PV system in rural area?
6. Write the differences between diffuse and beam radiation.
7. *Explain the principle of conversion of solar energy into heat.
8. Explain how thermal resistance of convection is calculated.
9. *Enumerate the different types of concentrating type collectors
10. *Why orientation is needed in concentrating type collectors?
11. *Draw the i-v characteristics of PV cell and explain.
12. Develop the static model of the PV cell
13. Connect two non-identical PV cells in parallel and explain the resulting i-v
characteristics.
14. What is maximum power point tracking?
15. Explain how the input resistance of converters can be modulated using the
duty ratio as the control input to track the maximum power operating point.
16. Draw the block schematic of the reference cell method of maximum power point
tracking and explain.
18. What are the different storage mechanism and their applications?
19. How is PV sizing done for a given application?

20. How is battery sizing done for a given application?

21. What are the advantages and disadvantages of PV solar energy conversion?
22. What is wind power?
23. Explain solar tower concept in power generation.
24. What are wind farms?
25. How can a wind turbine/induction generator system be connected to a stand
alone load?
26. What is called teethering?
27. What are the special problems in construction of barriers for tidal scheme?
28. Differentiate tide and wave.
29. What are the spring and neap tides?
30. What are the constituents of biogas?
31. What is the potential in India for biomass based systems?
32. What is the wave energy potential for India?
33. What are the main components of fuel cell?
34. Describe the construction and principle of operation of a turbine used for tidal
power.

35. Write about energy from biogas

36. What are the potential applications of the gasifier?
37. What is a fuel cell? Describe the principle of working of a fuel cell with reference
to H2 O2 cell.

38. What are the advantages and disadvantages of fuel cell?

39. Explain the depletion process of solar radiation as it passes through the
atmosphere to reach the surface of the earth.

40. Explain the construction and working principle of a sunshine recorder.

41. *Write the advantages of flat plate collector.
42. State the difference between passive and active solar heating system.
43. What are the major limitations of thermo mechanical system?
44. Variation of isolation and temp. affect the V-I characteristic of a solar cell
explain
45. What are the factors that reduce the efficiency of a solar cell?
46. *Mention various parameters that affect the performance of a flat plate
collector.
47. How the efficiency of a flat plate collector can be enhanced by booster mirror?
48. *Draw the Equivalent circuit of a fuel cell for ideal and practical case. Justify
the differences between these two.
49. How the extraterrestrial radiation related with solar constant.