13 Terms
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Solar power
Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.
Industry: Energy
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Solar power
Gigawatt (GW)
Energy; Solar power
A unit of power equal to 1 billion Watts; 1 million kilowatts, or 1,000 megawatts.
Work function
Energy; Solar power
The energy difference between the Fermi level and vacuum zero. The minimum amount of energy it takes to remove an electron from a substance into the vacuum.
Zenith angle
Energy; Solar power
The angle between the direction of interest (of the sun, for example) and the zenith (directly overhead).
Inverter
Energy; Solar power
A device that converts direct current electricity to alternating current either for stand-alone systems or to supply power to an electricity grid.
Ion
Energy; Solar power
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.
Irradiance
Energy; Solar power
The direct, diffuse, and reflected solar radiation that strikes a surface. Usually expressed in kilowatts per square meter. Irradiance multiplied by time equals insolation.
