Solar Authority Home

Solar PV Definitions

Solar Fraction:  This is your strategy of the percentage of total energy load you want provided by solar.  You can also reduce your total energy consumption by concentrating on conservation. 


Module efficiency:  the total solar radiation converted to electricity.  The solar pv industry ranges from 5% to 20% efficiency. 
Tilt angle: the angle above the horizontal at which the collector is lifted to face the sun. 


Units of Electricity


Volts = force (on electrons)

Amperes = head count (electrons past a certain point)

Watt = volts x amps

Kilowatt = 1,000 watts

Kilowatt-Hour:  A kilowatt-hour is a common unit of electrical power consumption that equals the amount of power used over one hour of time.  One kilowatt-hour equals 1000 watt-hours.  A 60 watt light bulb turned on for 1 hour uses .06 kilowatt-hours of power.  Your utility bill should list your home or business electricity consumption in kilowatt-hours.  Determining the amount of electricity you use is the first step to sizing a solar energy photovoltaic (PV) system. 
The utility sells you electricity in units of magnitude of power x duration.

Kilowatt-hour =

1,000 watts x 1 hour
100 watts x 10 hours
10 watts x 100 hours

08/30/2010