| flat-plate photovoltaics (pv) | A pv array or module that consists of nonconcentrating elements. flat-plate arrays and modules use direct and diffuse sunlight, but if the array is fixed in position, some portion of the direct su... |
| exciton | A quasi-particle created in a semiconductor that is composed of an electron hole pair in a bound state. an exciton can be generated by and converted back into a photon. экситон; |
| heterojunction | A region of electrical contact between two different materials. |
| maintenance-free battery | A sealed battery to which water cannot be added to maintain electrolyte level. |
| multicrystalline | - A semiconductor (photovoltaic) material composed of variously oriented, small, individual crystals. sometimes referred to as polycrystalline or semicrystalline.
- A semiconductor (pho...
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| p-type semiconductor | A semiconductor in which holes carry the current; produced by doping an intrinsic semiconductor with an electron acceptor impurity (e.g., boron in silicon). |
| p-i-n | A semiconductor photovoltaic (pv) device structure that layers an intrinsic semiconductor between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor; this structure is most often used with amorpho... |
| n-type semiconductor | A semiconductor produced by doping an intrinsic semiconductor with an electron-donor impurity (e.g., phosphorus in silicon). |
| cell (battery) | - A single unit of an electrochemical device capable of producing direct voltage by converting chemical energy into electrical energy. a battery usually consists of several cells electrically co...
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| grid-connected system | A solar electric or photovoltaic (pv) system in which the pv array acts like a central generating plant, supplying power to the grid. |
| hybrid system | - A solar electric or photovoltaic system that includes other sources of electricity generation, such as wind or diesel generators.
- A solar electric or photovoltaic system that includ...
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| concentrating solar power (csp) | A solar technology that use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto receivers that convert solar energy to heat. this thermal energy is then used to produce electricity with a steam turbi... |
| concentrating photovoltaics (cpv) | A solar technology that uses lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto high-efficiency solar cells. |
| photovoltaic (pv) device | - 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 a...
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| energy audit | - A survey that shows how much energy used in a home, which helps find ways to use less energy.
- Систематический контроль за расходованием энергии
- A survey that shows how mu...
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| one-axis tracking | A system capable of rotating about one axis. |
| building integrated photovoltaics | A term for the design and integration of photovoltaic (pv) technology into the building envelope, typically replacing conventional building materials. this integration may be in vertical facades, ... |
| rankine cycle | A thermodynamic cycle used in steam turbines to convert heat energy into work. concentrating solar power plants often rely on the rankine cycle. in csp systems, mirrors focus sunlight on a heat-tr... |
| antireflection coating | - A thin coating of a material applied to a solar cell surface that reduces the light reflection and increases light transmission.
- A thin coating of material applied to a solar cell s...
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| polycrystalline thin film | A thin film made of multicrystalline material. |
| amorphous silicon | - A thin-film, silicon photovoltaic cell having no crystalline structure. manufactured by depositing layers of doped silicon on a substrate. see also single-crystal silicon an polycrystalline si...
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| alternating current (ac) | - A type of electrical current, the direction of which is reversed at regular intervals or cycles. in the united states, the standard is 120 reversals or 60 cycles per second. electricity transm...
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| direct current (dc) | - A type of electricity transmission and distribution by which electricity flows in one direction through the conductor, usually relatively low voltage and high current. to be used for typical 1...
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| square wave inverter | A type of inverter that produces square wave output. it consists of a direct current source, four switches, and the load. the switches are power semiconductors that can carry a large current and w... |
| crystalline silicon | - A type of photovoltaic cell made from a slice of single-crystal silicon or polycrystalline silicon.
- A type of photovoltaic cell made from a slice of single‐crystal silicon or<...
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| photoelectrochemical cell | - A type of photovoltaic device in which the electricity induced in the cell is used immediately within the cell to produce a chemical, such as hydrogen, which can then be withdrawn for use.
...
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| ribbon (photovoltaic) cells | - A type of photovoltaic device made in a continuous process of pulling material from a molten bath of photovoltaic material, such as silicon, to form a thin sheet of material.
- A type...
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| pulse-width-modulated (pwm) wave inverter | A type of power inverter that produce a high quality (nearly sinusoidal) voltage, at minimum current harmonics. |
| internal quantum efficiency (internal qe or iqe) | A type of quantum efficiency. refers to the efficiency with which light not transmitted through or reflected away from the cell can generate charge carriers that can generate current. |
| ampere (amp) | - A unit of electrical current or rate of flow of electrons. one volt across one ohm of resistance causes a current flow of one ampere.
- The unit of measurement of electrical current. ...
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| volt (v) | - A unit of electrical force equal to that amount of electromotive force that will cause a steady current of one ampere to flow through a resistance of one ohm.
- A unit of electrical f...
вольт (в); |
| gigawatt (gw) | - A unit of power equal to 1 billion watts; 1 million kilowatts, or 1,000 megawatts.
- A measurement of power equal to a thousand million watts. gigawatt-hour (gwhr): a measurement of e...
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| peak watt | - A unit used to rate the performance of solar cells, modules, or arrays; the maximum nominal output of a photovoltaic device, in watts (wp) under standardized test conditions, usually 1,000 wat...
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| distributed energy resources (der) | - A variety of small, modular power-generating technologies that can be combined with energy management and storage systems and used to improve the operation of the electricity delivery system, ...
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| cell barrier | - A very thin region of static electric charge along the interface of the positive and negative layers in a photovoltaic cell. the barrier inhibits the movement of electrons from one layer to th...
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| low voltage warning | - A warning buzzer or light that indicates the low battery voltage set point has been reached.
- A warning buzzer or light that indicates the low battery voltage set
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| modified sine wave | - A waveform that has at least three states (i.e., positive, off, and negative). has less harmonic content than a square wave.
- A waveform that has at least three states (i.e., positiv...
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| indium oxide | - A wide band gap semiconductor that can be heavily doped with tin to make a highly conductive, transparent thin film. often used as a front contact or one component of a heterojunction solar ce...
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| hydrogenated amorphous silicon | - Amorphous silicon with a small amount of incorporated hydrogen. the hydrogen neutralizes dangling bonds in the amorphous silicon, allowing charge carriers to flow more freely.
- Amorp...
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| peak power current | - Amperes produced by a photovoltaic module or array operating at the voltage of the i-v curve that will produce maximum power from the module.
- Amperes produced by a photovoltaic modu...
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| seasonal depth of discharge | An adjustment factor used in some system sizing procedures which "allows" the battery to be gradually discharged over a 30-90 day period of poor solar insolation. this factor results in a slightly... |
| flat-plate module | An arrangement of photovoltaic cells or material mounted on a rigid flat surface with the cells exposed freely to incoming sunlight. |
| stand-alone system | An autonomous or hybrid photovoltaic system not connected to a grid. may or may not have storage, but most stand-alone systems require batteries or some other form of storage. |
| photocurrent | An electric current induced by radiant energy. фототок; |
| conduction band (or conduction level) | - An energy band in a semiconductor in which electrons can move freely in a solid, producing a net transport of charge.
- An energy band in a semiconductor in which
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| ampere hour meter | - An instrument that monitors current with time. the indication is the product of current (in amperes) and time (in hours).
- An instrument that monitors current over time. the indicati...
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| pyrheliometer | - An instrument used for measuring direct beam solar irradiance. uses an aperture of 5.7° to transcribe the solar disc.
- An instrument used for measuring direct beam solar irradiance. ...
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| electrical grid | - An integrated system of electricity distribution, usually covering a large area.
- An integrated system of electricity distribution, usually covering a large
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| smart grid | An intelligent electric power system that regulates the two-way flow of electricity and information between power plants and consumers to control grid activity. |
| photovoltaic (pv) array | - An interconnected system of pv modules that function as a single electricity-producing unit. the modules are assembled as a discrete structure, with common support or mounting. in smaller syst...
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| utility-interactive inverter | An inverter that can function only when tied to the utility grid, and uses the prevailing line-voltage frequency on the utility line as a control parameter to ensure that the photovoltaic system`s... |
| line-commutated inverter | An inverter that is tied to a power grid or line. the commutation of power (conversion from direct current to alternating current) is controlled by the power line, so that, if there is a failure i... |
| sine wave inverter | - An inverter that produces utility-quality, sine wave power forms.
- An inverter that produces utility‐quality, sine wave power forms.
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| intrinsic semiconductor | An undoped semiconductor. |
| reverse current protection | - Any method of preventing unwanted current flow from the battery to the photovoltaic array (usually at night). see also blocking diode.
- Any method of preventing unwanted current flow...
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| satellite power system (sps) | - Concept for providing large amounts of electricity for use on the earth from one or more satellites in geosynchronous earth orbit. a very large array of solar cells on each satellite would pro...
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| standard test conditions (stc) | Conditions under which a module is typically tested in a laboratory. |
| majority carrier | - Current carriers (either free electrons or holes) that are in excess in a specific layer of a semiconductor material (electrons in the n-layer, holes in the p-layer) of a cell.
- Curr...
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| light-induced defects | Defects, such as dangling bonds, induced in an amorphous silicon semiconductor upon initial exposure to light. |
| amperage interrupt capability (aic) | - Direct current fuses should be rated with a sufficient aic to interrupt the highest possible current.
- Direct current fuses should be rated with a
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| deep discharge | Discharging a battery to 20% or less of its full charge capacity. |
| power conditioning equipment | - Electrical equipment, or power electronics, used to convert power from a photovoltaic array into a form suitable for subsequent use. a collective term for inverter, converter, battery charge r...
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| sub-hourly energy markets | Electricity markets that operate on time steps of 5 minutes. approximately 60% of all electricity in the united states is currently traded in sub-hourly markets, running at 5-minute intervals so t... |
| solar energy | - Electromagnetic energy transmitted from the sun (solar radiation). the amount that reaches the earth is equal to one billionth of total solar energy generated, or the equivalent of about 420 t...
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| dc-to-dc converter | Electronic circuit to convert direct current voltages (e.g., photovoltaic module voltage) into other levels (e.g., load voltage). can be part of a maximum power point tracker. |
| valence level energy/valence state | Energy content of an electron in orbit about an atomic nucleus. also called bound state. |
| fermi level | - Energy level at which the probability of finding an electron is one-half. in a metal, the fermi level is very near the top of the filled levels in the partially filled valence band. in a semic...
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| battery energy storage | - Energy storage using electrochemical batteries. the three main applications for battery energy storage systems include spinning reserve at generating stations, load leveling at substations, an...
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| air mass (sometimes called air mass ratio) | - Equal to the cosine of the zenith angle-that angle from directly overhead to a line intersecting the sun. the air mass is an indication of the length of the path solar radiation travels throug...
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| diffusion furnace | - Furnace used to make junctions in semiconductors by diffusing dopant atoms into the surface of the material.
- Furnace used to make junctions in semiconductors by diffusing dopant
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| distributed power | - Generic term for any power supply located near the point where the power is used. opposite of central power. see also stand-alone systems.
- Generic term for any power supply located ...
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| ispra guidelines | - Guidelines for the assessment of photovoltaic power plants, published by the joint research centre of the commission of the european communities, ispra, italy.
- Guidelines for the as...
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| band gap | - In a semiconductor, the energy difference between the highest valence band and the lowest conduction band.
- In a semiconductor, the energy difference between the highest valence band...
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| float-zone process | In reference to solar photovoltaic cell manufacture, a method of growing a large-size, high-quality crystal whereby coils heat a polycrystalline ingot placed atop a single-crystal seed. as the coi... |
| solar-grade silicon | Intermediate-grade silicon used in the manufacture of solar cells. less expensive than electronic-grade silicon. |
| temperature factors | - It is common for three elements in photovoltaic system sizing to have distinct temperature corrections: a factor used to decrease battery capacity at cold temperatures; a factor used to decrea...
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| gel-type battery | Lead-acid battery in which the electrolyte is composed of a silica gel matrix. |
