ICS solar systems are also called "batch" or "breadbox" water heaters. They combine the collector and storage tank in one unit. The sun shining into the collector strikes the storage tank directly, heating the water. The large thermal mass of the water, p ...

A type of High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamp that uses sodium under high pressure as the primary light-producing element. These high efficiency lights produce a golden white color and are used for interior industrial applications, such as in warehouses a ...

As defined by the Comprehensive National Energy Act of 1992 (or the Energy Policy Act; EPAct): any organic matter from a plant which is planted for the exclusive purpose of being used to produce energy." This does not include wood or agricultural wastes o ...

Materials that prevent or slow down the movement of heat.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) is an ether compound used as a gasoline blending component to raise the oxygen content of gasoline. MTBE is made by combining isobutylene (from various refining and chemical processes) and methanol (usually made from nat ...

The process of burning; the oxidation of a material by applying heat, which unites oxygen with a material or fuel.

A column of gas at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (32 degrees Fahrenheit and one atmosphere).

A device that reduces heat loss at night and during cloudy periods and heat gain during the day in warm weather. A movable insulator could be an insulative shade, shutter panel, or curtain.

The gaseous byproducts of the combustion of a fuel.

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 ...

The water content of a substance (a solid fuel) as measured under specified conditions being the: Dry Basis, which equals the weight of the wet sample minus the weight of a (bone) dry sample divided by the weight of the dry sample times 100 (to get percen ...

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

A system where heat is supplied to areas of a building from a single appliance through a network of ducts or pipes.

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

Fuels formed in the ground from the remains of dead plants and animals. It takes millions of years to form fossil fuels. Oil, natural gas, and coal are fossil fuels.

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 ...

Electric power plant or utility capacity on line and running at low power in excess of actual load.

An electrically charged atom or group of atoms that has lost or gained electrons; a loss makes the resulting particle positively charged; a gain makes the particle negatively charged.

A solar energy collection device consisting of containers of water located on a roof that absorb solar energy during the day so that the heat can be used at night or that cools a building by evaporation at night.

A type of anaerobic digester that has a mechanical mixing system and where temperature and volume are controlled to maximize the anaerobic digestion process for biological waste treatment, methane production, and odor control.