Year 9 Science · Unit 3 · Lesson 12

Renewable Energy Sources

Apply Worksheet

Name
Date
Class

Learning Goals

Warm Up

Because… chain

Fill in the missing effects. Each cause leads to the next step in how a solar PV system produces electricity for the grid or a battery.

Australia receives high solar irradiance (sunlight energy per m²)
→
Photovoltaic cells absorb the incoming light energy
→
Electrons in the cell are excited and begin to flow
→
An electrical current is produced in the circuit
→

Overall energy transformation:

Your Turn

Real-world context

Broken Hill (outback NSW) receives an average of 8.2 peak sun hours per day, one of the highest in Australia. A farmer wants to power a remote cattle station that uses 10 kWh of electricity per day. She installs 2 kW of solar panels. The Bungala Solar Farm in South Australia (300 MW) is a nearby large-scale example of the same technology.

(a) Calculate the energy produced by the panels on a good sunny day (Energy = Power × Time). Is this enough to meet the station's daily needs of 10 kWh?

Apply 2 marks

(b) What problem occurs at night and on heavily cloudy days? Use the term "intermittent" in your answer.

Apply 2 marks

(c) What solution from the lesson addresses the problem you described in (b)? Name a real Australian example of this technology being used at scale.

Apply 2 marks

Show What You Know

1. Describe the energy transformation that occurs in a wind turbine, starting with the kinetic energy of moving air.

Apply 2 marks

2. Snowy Hydro 2.0 is described as a "giant battery." Using the concept of energy transformation, explain what this means.

Apply 3 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?

HSCScience · Year 9 Science · Unit 3 · Lesson 12 · Apply Worksheet