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

diffusion length

Energy; Solar power

The mean distance a free electron or hole moves before recombining with another hole or electron.

sputtering

Energy; Solar power

A process used to apply photovoltaic semiconductor material to a substrate by a physical vapor deposition process where high-energy ions are used to bombard elemental sources of semiconductor ...

diode

Energy; Solar power

An electronic device that allows current to flow in one direction only. See blocking diode and bypass diode.

square wave

Energy; Solar power

A waveform that has only two states, (i.e., positive or negative). A square wave contains a large number of harmonics.

direct beam radiation

Energy; Solar power

Radiation received by direct solar rays. Measured by a pyrheliometer with a solar aperture of 5.7° to transcribe the solar disc.

square wave inverter

Energy; Solar power

A type of inverter that produces square wave output. It consists of a direct current source, four switches, and the load. The switches are power semiconductors that can carry a large current and ...

direct current (DC)

Energy; Solar power

A type of electricity transmission and distribution by which electricity flows in one direction through the conductor, usually relatively low voltage and high current. To be used for typical 120 volt ...