Communicate Solar
Unless you’re a chemist or engineering buff, you’re likely to stumble across a few unfamiliar words in your quest to transform your abode into a solar-energy-wielding powerhouse. The good news is that you won’t have to go back to school or buy a book on solar energy to comprehend these solar power systems. You just need a glossary handy to give you a crash course in the important solar terms!
Absorber: The tinted surface that absorbs the solar radiation and converts it to heat energy.
Active System: A solar heating or cooling system that requires its own external mechanical transmitting equipment to move collected heat
Ambient Temperature: The temperature of the air surrounding the solar energy system.
Auxiliary Heat: Extra heat provided by a traditional heating system during periods of cloudiness, inclement weather or intense cold when a solar power unit cannot provide enough power.
Coefficient of Heat Transmission: The hourly rate of heat loss in British Thermal Units when the difference between indoor and outdoor air temperature is 1 degree Fahrenheit.
Collector Efficiency: The ratio of usable heat energy taken from a solar collector to the amount of solar energy striking the surface.
Converter - An electrical apparatus that can change the quality or quantity of electrical energy.
Degree Day: A unit that represents a fall of 1 degree below the specified average outdoor temperature (usually 18°C or 65°F) for one day.
Diffuse Radiation: Indirect sunlight scattered by water vapor, dust and air molecules.
Direct Radiation: Direct sunlight straight from the sun, resulting in shadows cast on a clear day.
Grid-Connected System - A photovoltaic array acts as a central generator, supplying power to an electric grid system.
Headers: The pipe running across the edge of the solar collector array, which gathers or distributes the heat transfer fluid and maintains pressure.
Heat Exchanger: A coiled copper tube immersed in a water tank that transfers heat from one fluid to another.
Heat Storage Capacity: The amount of heat that can be stored.
Hybrid Solar Energy System: A renewable energy system that uses both active and passive methods.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh): A measure of electrical energy equaling power consumption of 1,000 watts for 1 hour.
Megawatt – A unit of measurement equaling 1,000 Kilowatts or 1 million watts. One megawatt can power approximately 1,000 California homes.
Passive Solar Energy System: A solar power system that uses no external mechanical power to move heat.
Percentage of Possible Sunshine: The percentage of daylight hours where there is enough direct solar radiation to cast a shadow.
