Site planning that accounts for natural solar heating and cooling processes and their relationship to building shape, orientation, and siting.

A unit of pressure for a fluid, commonly used in water pumping and hydropower to express height a pump must lift water, or the distance water falls. Total head accounts for friction head losses, etc.

A system capable of rotating about one axis.

Energy produced by the conversion of biomass directly to heat or to a liquid or gas that can be converted to energy.

The approximate energy producing capacity of a power plant, under specified conditions, usually during periods of highest load.

The use of devices to limit or prevent the release of pollution into the atmosphere.

A layer of semiconductor material, such as copper indium diselenide or gallium arsenide, a few microns or less in thickness, used to make solar photovoltaic cells.

A type of turbine in which combusted, pressurized gas is directed against a series of blades connected to a shaft, which forces the shaft to turn to produce mechanical energy.

A type of motor that has a rotor with electrical windings connected through slip rings to the external power circuit. An external resistance controller in the rotor circuit allows the performance of the motor to be tailored to the needs of the system and ...

The effect of cooling by the radiation of heat from a building to the night sky.

A column of burning combustion gases that are so hot and strong that the heat is lost up the chimney before it can be transferred to the house. A draft brings air to the fire to help keep it burning.

A raw material that can be converted to one or more products.

The quantity of heat necessary to raise the temperature of a specific mass of a substance by one degree.

A measure of the efficiency of an appliance's energy efficiency.

A way of joining photovoltaic cells by connecting positive leads to negative leads; such a configuration increases the voltage.

Energy supplied during periods of relatively high system demands as specified by the supplier.

A type of heat pump that uses the ground, ground water, or ponds as a heat source and heat sink, rather than outside air. Ground or water temperatures are more constant and are warmer in winter and cooler in summer than air temperatures. Geothermal heat p ...

These brines are hot (300 F to 400 F) (149 C to 204 C) pressurized waters that contain dissolved methane and lie at depths of 10,000 ft (3048 m) to more than 20,000 ft (6096 m) below the earth's surface. The best known geopressured reservoirs lie along th ...

A wood or gas burning appliance that is primarily used to provide ambiance to a room. Conventional, masonry fireplaces without energy saving features, often take more heat from a space than they put into it.

A house built into the ground or slope of a hill, or which has most or all exterior surfaces covered with earth.