Solar power

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

orientation

Energy; Solar power

Placement with respect to the cardinal directions, N, S, E, W; azimuth is the measure of orientation from north.

outgas

Energy; Solar power

See gassing.

overcharge

Energy; Solar power

Forcing current into a fully charged battery. The battery will be damaged if overcharged for a long period.

packing factor

Energy; Solar power

The ratio of array area to actual land area or building envelope area for a system; or, the ratio of total solar cell area to the total module area, for a module.

panel

Energy; Solar power

See photovoltaic (PV) panel.

parallel connection

Energy; Solar power

A way of joining solar cells or photovoltaic modules by connecting positive leads together and negative leads together; such a configuration increases the current, but not the voltage.