Instructions: Read each scenario carefully to answer the computational questions.

Q1. Charlie lives off-grid and gets his electricity from a 5000-watt gasoline generator. With the rising cost of gasoline, Charlie is thinking about converting to solar energy. If a standard solar panel can generate 200 watts and receives an average of 5 hours of full sun per day, how many solar panels would Charlie need to generate the same amount of daily electricity he currently gets from his generator?




Q2. A city plans to build a solar farm with panels rated at 300 watts each. The panels receive an average of 5 hours of peak sunlight per day. The city needs to generate 900,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year from the solar farm.

  1. Calculate the annual energy output of one panel (in KWh). 






  2. How many panels must the city install to meet its goal? 






  3. If panel efficiency improves by 20%, how many fewer panels are needed?





Q3. Assume 1250 homes participate in a rooftop solar program. Each system is rated at 6 kilowatts and receives an average of 4 hours of peak sunlight per day. 

  1. Calculate the total annual electricity generated by all participating homes (in KWh). 






  2. If each kWh of electricity generated by rooftop solar displaces grid electricity that would have emitted 0.5kg of CO2 per kWh, estimate the total annual CO2 emissions avoided by the program (in metric tons).