Solar power is the conversion of the energy from the sun's radiation into thermal or electrical energy. Solar energy is a clean source of power and choosing Solar has many benefits. It can help you reduce your electricity bill by up to 90%, it has low maintenance and a life of 25 years to name a few.
This process is known as the photovoltaic effect. As a key solar system acronym, “PV” is widely recognized across the solar industry and often refers to the systems installed on rooftops, ground-mounted, or integrated into building materials like solar glass.
The Big Solar Energy Glossary defines and simplifies some of the top solar words, industry acronyms and green energy terms to help you more easily navigate the sector and make more informed decisions. All terms and acronyms are defined in the context of solar energy.
What is a photovoltaic system?
Economic sector dealing with photovoltaics. See photovoltaic market. A ground mounted PV system that has been erected on a green field (open space); usually solar parks cover an area of at least 3 hectares and therefore generate a relatively high yield. Thus they generally receive lower feed-in tariffs than roof- and façade-mounted systems.
Photovoltaic‐Thermal (PV/T) System: A photovoltaic system that, in addition to converting sunlight into electricity, collects the residual heat energy and delivers both heat and electricity in usable form. Also called a total energy system.
What is a photovoltaic panel?
Panel: See photovoltaic (PV) panel. Parallel Connection: 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.
What is a photovoltaic device?
Photovoltaic (PV) Device: A solid‐state electrical device that converts light directly into direct current electricity of voltage‐current characteristics that are a function of the characteristics of the light source and the materials in and design of the device.