A means of reducing the volume of a material by compaction into a bale.

The amount of energy (in electron volts) required to free an outer shell electron from its orbit about the nucleus to a free state, and thus promote it from the valence to the conduction level.

An octagonal shaped shelter that originated in Mongolia, and traditionally made from leather or canvas for easy transportation.

The measure of the efficiency of fluorescent lamp ballasts. It is the relative light output divided by the power input.

A device used to control the voltage in a fluorescent lamp.

A flexible roll or strip of insulating material in widths suited to standard spacings of building structural members (studs and joists). They are made from glass or rock wool fibers. Blankets are continuous rolls. Batts are pre-cut to four or eight foot l ...

The power output of a power plant that can be continuously produced.

A colorless, odorless but poisonous combustible gas with the formula CO. Carbon monoxide is produced in the incomplete combustion of carbon and carbon compounds such as fossil fuels (i.e. coal, petroleum) and their products (e.g. liquefied petroleum gas, ...

A power plant that is normally operated to generate a base load, and that usually operates at a constant load; examples include coal fired and nuclear fueled power plants.

A unit of length named for A.J. Angstome, a Swedish spectoscopist, used in measuring electromagnetic radiation equal to 0.000,000,01 centimeters.

In a semiconductor, the energy difference between the highest valence band and the lowest conduction band.

The conditioned or unconditioned space below the main living area or primary floor of a building.

A method for making sheets of polycrystalline silicon (for solar photovlotaic devices) in which molten silicon is drawn upward by capillary action through a mold.

Solar radiation that is not scattered by dust or water droplets.

A procedure for determining the primary elements in a substance (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and ash).

The weight of oxygen taken up mainly as a result of the oxidation of the constituents of a sample of water by biological action; expressed as the number of parts per million of oxygen taken up by the sample from water originally saturated with air, usuall ...

A unit of luminous intensity; the magnitude to the candela is such that the luminance of the total radiator, at the temperature of solidification of platinum, is 60 candelas per square centimeter.

A colorless, odorless noncombustible gas with the formula CO2 that is present in the atmosphere. It is formed by the combustion of carbon and carbon compounds (such as fossil fuels and biomass), by respiration, which is a slow combustion in animals and pl ...

The flow of air down a flue/chimney and into a house caused by low indoor air pressure that can occur when using several fans or fireplaces and/or if the house is very tight.

An ideal heat engine (conceived by Sadi Carnot) in which the sequence of operations forming the working cycle consists of isothermal expansion, adiabatic expansion, isothermal compression, and adiabatic compression back to its initial state.