The alignment of a building along a given axis to face a specific geographical direction. The alignment of a solar collector, in number of degrees east or west of true south.

A company or individual that is not directly regulated as a utility. These entities produce power for their own use and/or sell it to regulated utilities.

The process of cooling by which a heat absorbing media absorbs heat from one source and radiates the heat away.

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 ...

The change in heat content that occurs with a change in phase and without change in temperature.

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 coil of tungsten wire suspended in a vacuum or inert gas-filled bulb. When heated by electricity the tungsten "filament" glows.

The price paid for goods or services at the time of a transaction; a price that has not been adjusted to account for inflation.

A registered trademark of an agency of the state of Nebraska, for an automotive fuel containing a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.

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 ...

A gas that does not react with other substances; e.g. argon or krypton; sealed between two sheets of glazing to decrease the U-value (increase the R-Value) of windows.

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

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 motor in which a three phase (or any multiphase) alternating current (i.e. the working current) is supplied to iron-cored coils (or windings) within the stator. As a result, a rotating magnetic field is set up, which induces a magnetizing current in the ...

A seal used to prevent the leakage of fluids, and also maintain the pressure in an enclosure.

A device where sunlight concentrated onto a absorber heats it to a high temperature, and the thermal radiation emitted by the absorber is used as the energy source for a photovoltaic cell that is designed to maximize conversion efficiency at the wavelengt ...

A WECS designed to produce electricity.

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

Equal to gross generation less electricity consumption of a power plant.