The process of characterizing the wind resource, and its energy potential, for a specific site or geographical area.

States that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed from one form to another. First Law efficiency measures the fraction of energy supplied to a device or process that it delivers in its output. Also called the law of conservation of energ ...

A mathematical representation of the frequency or ratio that specific wind speeds occur within a specified time interval.

The thermodynamic cycle that is an ideal standard for comparing performance of heat-engines, steam power plants, steam turbines, and heat pump systems that use a condensable vapor as the working fluid; efficiency is measured as work done divided by sensib ...

A gas or liquid used to move heat energy from one place to another; a refrigerant.

Features and vegetation on the outside of or surrounding a building for aesthetics and energy conservation.

A wood-burning appliance for space and/or water heating and/or cooking.

The process of managing the consumption of energy, generally to optimize available and planned generation resources.

The ratio of the radiant energy (heat) leaving (being emitted by) a surface to that of a black body at the same temperature and with the same area; expressed as a number between 0 and 1.

Alternating current is carried by conductors and a ground to residential, commercial, or industrial consumers. The waveform of the phase power appears as a single continuous sine wave at the system frequency whose amplitude is the rated voltage of the pow ...

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

The regular periodic arrangement of atoms or molecules in a crystal of semiconductor material.

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.

The amount of solar radiation striking a surface per unit of time and area.

The process by which materials expel or release gasses.

An electrical inverter that inverts direct current electricity to alternating current electricity, and that uses another alternating current source, such as an electric power transmission and distribution network (grid), for voltage and frequency referenc ...

The transmission of electricity through power lines.

The process of the absorption of heat from one location and its transfer to another for rejection or recuperation.

A WECS designed to produce electricity.

The amount of useful energy produced by a system less the amount of energy required to produce the fuel.