20 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
vacuum evaporation
Energy; Solar power
The deposition of thin films of semiconductor material by the evaporation of elemental sources in a vacuum.
flat-plate photovoltaics (PV)
Energy; Solar power
A PV array or module that consists of nonconcentrating elements. Flat-plate arrays and modules use direct and diffuse sunlight, but if the array is fixed in position, some portion of the direct ...
vacuum zero
Energy; Solar power
The energy of an electron at rest in empty space; used as a reference level in energy band diagrams.
float charge
Energy; Solar power
The voltage required to counteract the self-discharge of the battery at a certain temperature.
valence band
Energy; Solar power
The highest energy band in a semiconductor that can be filled with electrons.
float life
Energy; Solar power
The number of years that a battery can keep its stated capacity when it is kept at float charge.
valence level energy/valence state
Energy; Solar power
Energy content of an electron in orbit about an atomic nucleus. Also called bound state.
