The flow rate in these systems is 1/8 to 1/5 the rate of most solar water heating systems. The low-flow systems take advantage of stratification in the storage tank and theoretically allows for the use of smaller diameter piping to and from the collector ...

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

All the natural and living things around us. The earth, air, weather, plants, and animals all make up our environment.

A combustion heating appliance in which heat is captured from the burning of a fuel for distribution, comprised mainly of a combustion chamber and heat exchanger.

A mixture of substances that has a melting point lower than that of any mixture of the same substances in other proportions.

An electrical device that resists electric current flow.

Technologies that pertain to the generation of electricity.

A type of heating appliance that performs more than one function, for example space and water heating.

A type of anaerobic digester that has a mechanical mixing system and where temperature and volume are controlled to maximize the anaerobic digestion process for biological waste treatment, methane production, and odor control.

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 complete PV power system composed of the module (or arrary), and balance-of-system (BOS) components including the array supports, electrical conductors/wiring, fuses, safety disconnects, and grounds, charge controllers, inverters, battery storage, etc.

A thermostat that can be set to automatically lower temperatures in an unoccupied house and raise them again before the occupant returns.

A plastic foam insulation product, pressed or extruded into board-like forms, used as sheathing and insulation for interior basement or crawl space walls or beneath a basement slab; can also be used for exterior applications inside or outside foundations, ...

A term used to describe short and long-term affects on the Earth's climate as a result of human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and vegetation clearing and burning.

An open-loop solar heating system in which the heat transfer fluid from the collector loop and the piping drain into a drain whenever freezing conditions occur.

A type of furnace in which fuel is spread, automatically or mechanically, across the furnace grate.

The process of changing the structure of the electric power industry from one of guaranteed monopoly over service territories, as established by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, to one of open competition between power suppliers for custome ...

An electric generator consists of an armature and a field structure. The armature carries the wire loop, coil, or other windings in which the voltage is induced, whereas the field structure produces the magnetic field. In small generators, the armature is ...

A building that is elongated in the east-west direction, with the majority of the windows on the south side. The area of the windows is generally limited to about 7% of the total floor area. A sun-tempered design has no added thermal mass beyond what is a ...

A general term for the visible and near visible (ultraviolet and near-infrared) electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by the sun. It has a spectral, or wavelength, distribution that corresponds to different energy levels; short wavelength radiation ha ...