The amount of energy absorbed (or converted) by a solar collector (or photovoltaic cell or module) over a 15 minute period.

The highest possible pressure in a fuel-air mixture before spontaneous ignition occurs.

Power plants, whose output depends on a factor(s) that cannot be controlled by the power generator because they utilize intermittent resources such as solar energy or the wind.

A component of a heat pump that reverses the refrigerant's direction of flow, allowing the heat pump to switch from cooling to heating or heating to cooling.

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 building heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system that distributes conditioned air to individual zones or rooms.

The analysis of atmospheric conditions, particularly moisture in the air.

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 ...

A frequently used room or area that is maintained at a more comfortable level than the rest of the house; also known as a "warm room."

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 curve on a chart showing power (kW) supplied (on the horizontal axis) plotted against time of occurrence (on the vertical axis) to illustrate the variance in a load in a specified time period.

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 hydropower facility that stores water in a reservoir during high-inflow periods to augment water during low-inflow periods. Storage projects allow the flow releases and power production to be more flexible and dependable. Many hydropower project operati ...

A commmon term refering to an electricity transmission and distribution system.

The transfer of heat by means of air currents.

A vehicle with an engine capable of operating on two different types of fuels.

The volume of a unit weight of a substance at a specific temperature and pressure.

The resistance between metallic contacts and the semiconductor.

The process of converting municipal solid waste to energy and/or recovering materials for recycling.

The vacancy where an electron would normally exist in a solid; behaves like a positively charged particle.