The resistance between metallic contacts and the semiconductor.

A high R-value insulation product usually made from urethane that can be injected into wall cavities, or sprayed onto roofs or floors, where it expands and sets quickly.

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

A solar energy system designed to provide heat to individual rooms in a building.

A type of furnace in which fuel is burned and the heat is used to produce steam.

A heating unit where heat is distributed by means of convection or fans.

Recombination occurring in the emitter region of a photovoltaic cell.

A unit of pressure [hydraulic (liquid) or pneumatic (gas)] that does not include atmospheric pressure.

A circular projection of the sky vault onto a flat diagram used to determine solar positions and shading effects of landscape features on a solar energy system.

A chemical element that can be used as a fuel since it has a very high energy content.

The process of storing, or converting energy from one form to another, for later use; storage devices and systems include batteries, conventional and pumped storage hydroelectric, flywheels, compressed gas, and thermal mass.

The minimum temperature at which sufficient vapor is released by a liquid or solid (fuel) to form a flammable vapor-air mixture at atmospheric pressure.

An arrangement of photovoltaic cells or material mounted on a rigid flat surface with the cells exposed freely to incoming sunlight.

A type of building ventilation system that uses fans or blowers to provide fresh air to rooms when the forces of air pressure and gravity are not enough to circulate air through a building.

A machine supplied with external energy that is converted into force and/or motion.

A solar thermal electric central reciever power plant ("power tower") located in Barstow, California, and completed in 1981. The Solar One had a design capacity of 10,000 peak kilowatts, and was composed of a receiver located on the top of a tower surroun ...

A popular term for localized or on-site power generation.

A layer of semiconductor material (as used in a solar photovoltaic device) whose properties are essentially those of the pure, undoped, material.

A type of solar thermal system where sunlight is concentrated by a curved reflector onto a pipe containing a working fluid that can be used for process heat or to produce electricity. The world's largest solar thermal electric power plants use solar troug ...

A term used to describe solar thermal, central receiver, power systems, where an array of reflectors focus sunlight onto a central receiver and absorber mounted on a tower.