A battery that uses lithium in the negative electrode and a metal sulfide in the positive electrode, and the electrolyte is molten salt; can store large amounts of energy per unit weight.

A smaller version of standard fluorescent lamps which can directly replace standard incandescent lights. These lights consist of a gas filled tube, and a magnetic or electronic ballast.

Sunlight scattered by atmospheric particles and gases so that it arrives at the earth's surface from all directions and can not be focused.

The amount of energy an energy storage device or system can store.

A high-intensity discharge lamp type that uses mercury and several halide additives as light-producing elements. These lights have the best Color Rendition Index (CRI) of the High-Intensity Discharge lamps. They can be used for commercial interior lightin ...

A smokestack or flue for exhausting the products of combustion from a combustion appliance.

A term for the process of transmitting electricity over transmission lines not owned by the supplier of the electricity to a retail customer of the supplier. With retail wheeling, an electricity consumer can secure their own supply of electricity from a b ...

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

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

A passage for surplus water to flow over or around a dam.

The quantity of heat required to change the temperature of one unit weight of a material by one degree.

A photovoltaic device where incident sunlight is split into different spectral regions, with an optical apparatus, that are directed to individual photovoltaic cells that are optimized for converting that spectrum to electricity.

A current carrier, either an electron or a hole, that is in the minority in a specific layer of a semiconductor material; the diffusion of minority carriers under the action of the cell junction voltage is the current in a photovoltaic device.

A chemical used as a preservative and in bonding agents. It is found in household products such as plywood, furniture, carpets, and some types of foam insulation. It is also a by-product of combustion and is a strong-smelling, colorless gas that is an eye ...

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

A device that removes airborne particles from breathable air. Negative ions are produced and give up their negative charge to the particles. These new negative particles are then attracted to the positive particles surrounding them. This accumulation proc ...

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 ...

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 ...

The component of a solar energy heating system that collects solar radiation, and that contains components to absorb solar radiation and transfer the heat to a heat transfer fluid (air or liquid).

The angle that a solar collector is positioned from horizontal.