Solar Data Analysis#
Answer the following questions based on the plots from here or the in-class handout.
Using any of the graphs, what are two things you notice?
For each year, what month is the most efficient for our solar panels? Explain your reasoning.
Disregarding August 2020 through March 2021 (when our panels weren’t working), are there any months when the solar output is considerably lower than the solar irradiance? If so, which months? Give a reason explaining why this may have happened.
For each of the graphs showing the best-fit line, is there a positive or negative association between solar power and solar irradiance? Explain what this means.
Using the information above, which year(s) had the most efficient solar production? Which year(s) had the least efficient solar production? Propose a reason for this difference.
The r values for each graph are all close to 0.8. What does this tell you about the data?
Assuming the \(r\) value is 0.8 for each graph, calculate the r2 value.
What does this \(r^2\) value tell us about the relationship between solar power and solar irradiance?
Make a prediction about what these graphs will look like in 2030. Justify your prediction with specific examples from the current graphs.