Photovoltaic Conversion Efficiency Terms +

(solar electricity technical terms applying to electricity, power generation, concentrating solar power, or CSP, solar heating, solar lighting, and solar electricity)

power conditioning
The process of modifying the characteristics of electrical power; for example, inverting direct current to alternating current.
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 regulator, and blocking diode.

power conversion efficiency
The ratio of output power to input power of the inverter.
power density
The ratio of the power available from a battery to its mass (W/kg) or volume (W/l).
power factor; PF
The ratio of actual power being used in a circuit, expressed in watts or kilowatts, to the power that is apparently being drawn from a power source, expressed in volt-amperes or kilovolt-amperes.
primary battery
A battery whose initial capacity cannot be restored by charging.
projected area
The net south-facing glazing area projected on a vertical plane.
p-type semiconductor
A semiconductor in which holes carry the current; produced by doping an intrinsic semiconductor with an electron acceptor impurity; such as, boron in silicon.
pulse-width-modulated; PWM
A Wave Inverter which is a type of power inverter that produce a high quality (nearly sinusoidal) voltage, at minimum current harmonics.
pyranomete
An instrument used for measuring global solar irradiance.
pyranometer
An instrument used for measuring global solar irradiance.
pyrheliometer
An instrument used for measuring direct beam solar irradiance.

It uses an aperture of 5.7 degrees to transcribe the solar disc.

quad
One quadrillion Btu (1,000,000,000,000,000 Btu).
qualification test
A procedure applied to a selected set of photovoltaic modules involving the application of defined electrical, mechanical, or thermal stress in a prescribed manner and amount.

Test results are subject to a list of defined requirements.

rated battery capacity
The term used by battery manufacturers to indicate the maximum amount of energy that can be withdrawn from a battery under specified discharge rate and temperature.

Also see battery capacity.

—The information for the entries in this unit were compiled primarily from data
provided in the following source:

"U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy"
consisting of definitions of many important terms having to do with electricity,
power generation, concentrating solar power (CSP), solar heating, solar lighting,
and solar electricity, also known as photovoltaic (PV).

Information was also compiled from the

Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology; Edited by Christopher Morris;
Academic Press; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers; New York; 1992;
as well as,
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th edition;
Sybil P. Parker, editor in chief; McGraw-Hill, Inc.; 1989.

Index of additional Scientific and Technological Topics.