A system where heat is supplied to areas of a building from a single appliance through a network of ducts or pipes.

The ability to dispatch power.

The losses that result from inherent resistance in electrical conductors and transformation inefficiencies in distribution transformers in a transmission and distribution network.

A thermodynamic property of a substance, defined as the sum of its internal energy plus the pressure of the substance times its volume, divided by the mechanical equivalent of heat. The total heat content of air; the sum of the enthalpies of dry air and w ...

A class of energy producer that produces both heat and electricity from a single fuel.

The device that reduces the pressure of liquid refrigerant thereby cooling it before it enters the evaporator coil in a heat pump.

Metal, usually galvanized sheet metal, used to provide protection against infiltration of precipitation into a roof or exterior wall; usually placed around roof penetrations such as chimneys.

A column of gas at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (32 degrees Fahrenheit and one atmosphere).

ICS solar systems are also called "batch" or "breadbox" water heaters. They combine the collector and storage tank in one unit. The sun shining into the collector strikes the storage tank directly, heating the water. The large thermal mass of the water, p ...

A popular term used for an evaporative cooling device.

An amount to be paid for energy periodically by a customer without regard to demand or energy consumption.

The temperature that a system is designed to maintain (inside) or operate against (outside) under the most extreme conditions.

In reference to solar photovoltaic devices, the growth of one crystal on the surface of another crystal. The growth of the deposited crystal is oriented by the lattice structure of the original crystal.

In reference to solar thermal collectors, the condition where the heat transfer fluid is flowing through the collector loop under normal operating conditions.

A popular term for highly insulating window with a heat loss so low it performs better than an insulated wall in winter, since the sunlight that it admits is greater than its heat loss over a 24 hour period.

A cooling device that uses mechanical energy to produce chilled water.

A type of heating appliance that extracts so much of the available heat content from a combusted fuel that the moisture in the combustion gases condenses before it leaves the furnace. Also this furnace circulates a liquid to cool the furnace's heat exchan ...

A measure of a fuel's (liquid) ease of self-ignition.

Nonglossy paint with a relatively high absorptance.

A solid-state electrical device that converts light directly into direct current electricity of voltage-current characteristics that are a function of the characteristics of the light source and the materials in and design of the device. Solar photovoltai ...