Solar sensor construction

I am in the process of adding a Hobby Boards solar sensor to my 1 wire station. I have read various posts about mounting the sensor and some use a ping pong ball. I aquired some recently but was surprised that they don’t pass much light through them.
Does the sensor require visible light or ultra violet wavelength. I have some confusion over this as some people seem to measure ultra violet and others solar light???
My question is… do I use a standard white ping pong ball or is there a clear type, what else can I use to protect the sensor.
Thanks…

Edit:
Looking at the spectrum of the solar sensor of 850nm puts it at the lower end of the electromagetic infrared spectrum. I think that answers my question as Infrared will clearly go through a white ping pong ball…