A type of water heater in which heated water is stored within the tank. Hot water is released from the top of the tank when a hot water faucet is turned. This water is replaced with cold water that flows into the tank and down to just above the bottom pla ...

Strips of material used to separate multiple panes of glass within the windows.

A device that converts high-pressure steam, produced in a boiler, into mechanical energy that can then be used to produce electricity by forcing blades in a cylinder to rotate and turn a generator shaft.

A panel which covers the underside of an roof overhang, cantilever, or mansard.

The angle between a line from a point on the earth's surface to the center of the solar disc, and a line extending horizontally from the point.

The type of alternative current generated by alternating current generators, rotary inverters, and solid-state inverters.

The legal issues related to protecting or ensuring access to sunlight to operate a solar energy system, or use solar energy for heating and cooling.

A type of structural, insulated product with foam insulation contained between two facings of drywall, or structural wood composition boards such as plywood, waferboard, and oriented strand board.

A type of automatic thermostat (used on solar heating systems) that responds to temperature differences (between collectors and the storage components) so as to regulate the functioning of appliances (to switch transfer fluid pumps on and off).

A group of solar collectors or solar modules connected together.

Wind turbines that operate at a constant rotor revolutions per minute (RPM) and are optimized for energy capture at a given rotor diameter at a particular speed in the wind power curve.

A value used to estimate interior air cooling requirements (load) calculated as the number of degrees per day (over a specified period) that the daily average temperature is above 65 degrees Fahrenheit (or some other, specified base temperature). The dail ...

The total capacity of electrical generation devices in a power station or system.

A glazed structure, such as greenhouse or "sunspace."

The difference between the brightness of an object compared to that of its immediate background.

A national trade association of solar energy equipment manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, installers, and consultants.

In reference to a wind energy conversion device, the ratio of rotor blade surface area to the frontal, swept area that the rotor passes through.

The process of distilling (purifying) water using solar energy. Water can be placed in an air tight solar collector with a sloped glazing material, and as it heats and evaporates, distilled water condenses on the collector glazing, and runs down where it ...

The amount of heat required to raise a unit mass of a substance through one degree, expressed as a ratio of the amount of heat required to raise an equal mass of water through the same range.

An electromechanical device composed of a coil of wire wound around a cylinder containing a bar or plunger, that when a current is applied to the coil, the electromotive force causes the plunger to move; a series of coils or wires used to produce a magnet ...