This is a list of solar energy topics.

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Air mass coefficient The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Artificial photosynthesis Artificial photosynthesis is a chemical process that biomimics the natural process of photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen. The term artificial photosynthesis is commonly used to refer to ...

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BP Solar BP Solar was a manufacturer and installer of photovoltaic solar cells headquartered in Madrid, Spain, with production facilities in Frederick, MD, India and the People's Republic of China. It was a subsidiary of BP. History In 1981, BP acquire ...

* BrightSource Energy * Building-integrated photovoltaics

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Carbon nanotubes in photovoltaics Organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) are fabricated from thin films of organic semiconductors, such as polymers and small-molecule compounds, and are typically on the order of 100 nanometre, nm thick. Because polymer based OPVs can be made using ...

* Central solar heating plant *

Community solar farm A community solar project, farm or garden is a solar power installation that accepts capital from and provides output credit and tax benefits to multiple customers, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other investors. Participants ...

* Compact linear Fresnel reflector * Concentrating photovoltaics * Concentrating solar power *

Crookes radiometer The Crookes radiometer (also known as a light mill) consists of an airtight glass bulb containing a partial vacuum, with a set of vanes which are mounted on a spindle inside. The vanes rotate when exposed to light, with faster rotation for more i ...

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Daylighting Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings, and Reflective surfaces (climate engineering), reflective surfaces so that sunlight (direct or indirect) can provide effective internal lighting. Particular attention is ...

Horace de Saussure Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

* Desertec *

Drake Landing Solar Community The Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) is a planned community in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, equipped with a central solar heating system and other energy efficient technologies. This heating system is the first of its kind in North America, altho ...

* Duck curve *

Dye-sensitized solar cell A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC, DSC, DYSC or Grätzel cell) is a low-cost solar cell belonging to the group of thin film solar cells. It is based on a semiconductor formed between a photo-sensitized anode and an electrolyte, a '' photoelectr ...

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Effect of sun angle on climate The amount of heat energy received at any location on the globe is a direct effect of Sun angle on climate, as the angle at which sunlight strikes Earth varies by location, time of day, and season due to Earth's orbit around the Sun and Earth's r ...

Energy tower (downdraft) The energy tower is a device for producing electrical power. The brainchild of Dr. Phillip Carlson, expanded by Professor Dan Zaslavsky from the Technion. Energy towers spray water on hot air at the top of the tower, making the cooled air fall ...

* EURO-SOLAR Programme * European Photovoltaic Industry Association

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* Feed-in tariff * First Solar *

Flip Flap Flip Flap is a solar powered toy that resembles a plant. The small solar panel powers two leaves that bounce up and down continuously until the light source to the solar panel is stopped. The leaves can be stopped from bouncing by a switch on th ...

* Fresnel reflector * Charles Fritts *

Calvin Fuller Calvin Souther Fuller (May 25, 1902 – October 28, 1994) was an American physical chemist at AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked for 37 years from 1930 to 1967. Fuller was part of a team in basic research that found answers to physical ch ...

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* Geomagnetic storm * Global dimming *

Greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

* Growth of photovoltaics

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* Halo (optical phenomenon) * Helioseismology *

Heliostat A heliostat (from ''helios'', the Greek word for ''sun'', and ''stat'', as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating ...

* Home Energy Storage

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* Indosolar *

Insolation Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/m ...

Installed solar power capacity Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies: * Photovolt ...

Abram Ioffe Abram Fedorovich Ioffe ( rus, Абра́м Фёдорович Ио́ффе, p=ɐˈbram ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ɪˈofɛ; – 14 October 1960) was a prominent Russian/Soviet physicist. He received the Stalin Prize (1942), the Lenin Prize (1960) (po ...

* ISE (Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems) *

Ivanpah Solar Power Facility The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a concentrated solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert. It is located at the base of Clark Mountain in California, across the state line from Primm, Nevada. The plant has a gross capacity of 392&n ...

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* Jinko Solar

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* Light tube * List of photovoltaic power stations *

List of solar thermal power stations This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power. Operational Under construction Announced Cancelled Decommissioned * Eurelios pi ...

Loanpal GoodLeap, formerly Loanpal, is a finance technology company that provides financing options for the residential solar energy industry. The company was founded in 2003 as Paramount Equity and was later rebranded to Loanpal. In June 2021, the comp ...

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Magnetic sail A magnetic sail is a proposed method of spacecraft propulsion that uses a static magnetic field to deflect a plasma wind of charged particles radiated by the Sun or a Star thereby transferring momentum to accelerate or decelerate a spacecraft. ...

* Auguste Mouchout *

Moura photovoltaic power station The Moura Photovoltaic Power Station (also known as Amareleja Photovoltaic Power Station) is a large photovoltaic power station in Amareleja, in the municipality of Moura, Portugal. It is one of the largest power stations of its kind, and is bu ...

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* Nanocrystal solar cell *

Net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly importa ...

* Nevada Solar One

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* Parabolic reflector * Parabolic trough * Passive solar * Passive solar building design * Photoelectric effect * Photovoltaic array *

Photovoltaic system A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...

Photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collector Photovoltaic thermal collectors, typically abbreviated as PVT collectors and also known as hybrid solar collectors, photovoltaic thermal solar collectors, PV/T collectors or solar cogeneration systems, are power generation technologies that conver ...

* Photovoltaics *

Photovoltaics in transport A solar vehicle or solar electric vehicle is an electric vehicle powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy. Th ...

Polymer solar cell An organic solar cell (OSC) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport t ...

* Polytunnel *

PV financial incentives Financial incentives for photovoltaics are incentives offered to electricity consumers to install and operate solar-electric generating systems, also known as photovoltaics (PV). Governments offered incentives in order to encourage the PV industry ...

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* Row cover

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* Salt evaporation pond * Sandia National Laboratories * Wolfgang Scheffler *

SEGS Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is a concentrated solar power plant in California, United States. With the combined capacity from three separate locations at 354 megawatt (MW), it was once the world's second largest solar thermal energy g ...

* Seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) *

Soil solarization Soil solarization is a non-chemical environmentally friendly method for controlling pests using solar power to increase the soil temperature to levels at which many soil-borne plant pathogens will be killed or greatly weakened. Soil solarization ...

* Solar air conditioning * Solar and Heliospheric Observatory *

Solar azimuth angle The solar azimuth angle is the azimuth (horizontal angle with respect to north) of the Sun's position. This horizontal coordinate defines the Sun's relative direction along the local horizon, whereas the solar zenith angle (or its complementary ...

* Solar balloon *

Solar bowl A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to a device for solar hot water heating, but may refer to large power generating installations such as solar parabolic troughs and sol ...

Solar box cooker A solar cooker is a device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize drink and other food materials. Many solar cookers currently in use are relatively inexpensive, low-tech devices, although some are as powerful or as ...

* Solar car * Solar car racing * Solar cell * Solar cell efficiency *

Solar cell research There are currently many research groups active in the field of photovoltaics in universities and research institutions around the world. This research can be categorized into three areas: making current technology solar cells cheaper and/or mo ...

Solar-charged vehicle A solar vehicle or solar electric vehicle is an electric vehicle powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy. ...

Solar chemical Solar chemical refers to a number of possible processes that harness solar energy by absorbing sunlight in a chemical reaction. The idea is conceptually similar to photosynthesis in plants, which converts solar energy into the chemical bonds of gluc ...

* Solar chimney * Solar collector * Solar combisystem *

Solar constant The solar constant (''GSC'') is a flux density measuring mean solar electromagnetic radiation (total solar irradiance) per unit area. It is measured on a surface perpendicular to the rays, one astronomical unit (au) from the Sun (roughly the ...

* Solar cooker * Solar cooling * Solar cycle * Solar Decathlon *

Solar desalination Solar desalination is a desalination technique powered by solar energy. The two common methods are direct (thermal) and indirect (photovoltaic). History Solar distillation has been used for thousands of years. Early Greek mariners and Persian ...

Solar easement A solar easement is a right, expressed as an easement, restriction, covenant, or condition contained in any deed, contract, or other written instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner for the purpose of assuring adequate access to direc ...

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

* Solar Energy Generating Systems * Solar flare *

Solar fuel A solar fuel is a synthetic chemical fuel produced from solar energy. Solar fuels can be produced through photochemical (i.e. activation of certain chemical reactions by photons), photobiological (i.e., artificial photosynthesis), thermochemical ( ...

* Solar furnace *

Solar greenhouse (technical) A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These s ...

* Solar heating *

Solar hot water in Australia Solar hot water is water that is heated using energy from the Sun. Solar energy heats up large panels callethermal collectorscommonly known as solar panels. The energy is transferred through a fluid (often water) to a reservoir tank for storage an ...

Solar hydrogen panel A solar hydrogen panel is a device for artificial photosynthesis that Hydrogen production, produces photohydrogen directly from sunlight and water vapor utilizing photocatalytic water splitting, photocatalytic water splitting and thus bypasses th ...

* Solar lamp * Solar map * Solar maximum * Solar minimum *

Solar mirror A solar mirror contains a substrate with a reflective layer for reflecting the solar energy, and in most cases an interference layer. This may be a planar mirror or parabolic arrays of solar mirrors used to achieve a substantially concentrate ...

Solar nebula The formation of the Solar System began about 4.6 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud. Most of the collapsing mass collected in the center, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a ...

* Solar neon * Solar Orbiter * Solar oven *

Solar pond A solar pond is a pool of saltwater which collects and stores solar thermal energy. The saltwater naturally forms a vertical salinity gradient also known as a "halocline", in which low-salinity water floats on top of high-salinity water. The ...

* Solar power * Solar power by country * Solar power in Australia * Solar power in Canada * Solar power in China *

Solar power in the European Union Solar power consists of photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal energy in the European Union. In 2010, the €2.6 billion European solar heating sector consisted of small and medium-sized businesses, generated 17.3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy, ...

* Solar power in Germany * Solar power in India *

Solar power in Israel The use of solar energy began in Israel in the 1950s with the development by Levi Yissar of a solar water heater to address the energy shortages that plagued the new country.Petrotyranny by John C. Bacher, David Suzuki, published by Dundurn ...

* Solar power in Japan *

Solar power in Pakistan Pakistan has some of the highest values of insolation in the world, with eight to nine hours of sunshine per day, ideal climatic conditions for solar power generation. However, the country has been slow to adopt the technology. Despite elect ...

Solar power in Portugal Solar power is a growing source in the Portuguese energy mix. At the end of 2020, solar power installed capacity totalled 1.03 GW and represented 3.6% of total power generation in 2020. Portugal has set a goal of between 8.1 GW and 9.9 GW in ins ...

Solar power in Romania Solar power in Romania had an installed capacity of 1,374 megawatt (MW) as of the end of 2017. The country had in 2007 an installed capacity of 0.30 MW, which increased to 3.5 MW by the end of 2011, and to 6.5 MW by the end of 2012. How ...

Solar power in Spain Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production. In 2018, the cumulative total solar power installed was 7,011 MW, of which 4,707 MW were solar ...

* Solar power in Turkey * Solar power in the United Kingdom * Solar power in the United States * Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert *

Solar power satellite Space-based solar power (SBSP, SSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in outer space by solar power satellites (SPS) and distributing it to Earth. Its advantages include a higher collection of energy due to the lack of reflection and ab ...

Solar power tower A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or 'heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's ra ...

Solar-powered desalination unit A solar-powered desalination unit produces potable water from saline water through direct or indirect methods of desalination powered by sunlight. Solar energy is the most promising renewable energy source due to its ability to drive the more popu ...

Solar-powered pump Solar-powered pumps run on electricity generated by photovoltaic (PV) panels or the radiated thermal energy available from collected sunlight as opposed to grid electricity- or diesel-run water pumps. Generally, solar-powered pumps consist of ...

Solar-powered watch A solar-powered watch or light-powered watch is a watch that is powered entirely or partly by a solar cell. History A model produced from 1978 by the Riehl Time Corporation was simply described as running on solar power, but having "silicon powe ...

The Solar Project The SOLAR Project consists of the Solar One, Solar Two and Solar Tres solar thermal power plants based in the Mojave Desert, United States and Andalucía, Spain. The US Department of Energy (DOE) and a consortium of US utilities built the count ...

* Solar prominence * Solar proton event *

Solar-pumped laser A solar-pumped laser (or solar-powered laser) is a laser that shares the same optics, optical properties as conventional lasers such as emitting a Light beam, beam consisting of Coherence (physics), coherent Electromagnetic radiation, electromagneti ...

* Solar radiation * Solar radiation pressure *

Solar sail Solar sails (also known as light sails and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large mirrors. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigation have been p ...

* Solar savings fraction * Solar shingles * Solar still * Solar thermal collector * Solar thermal energy * Solar thermal rocket *

Solar Total Energy Project The Solar Total Energy Project (STEP) was the world's first and largest solar thermal cogeneration project having an industrial application. Built and operated during the 1980s in Coweta County, Georgia, STEP used solar energy to provide electric ...

Solar tracker A solar tracker is a device that orients a payload toward the Sun. Payloads are usually solar panels, parabolic troughs, fresnel reflectors, lenses or the mirrors of a heliostat. For flat-panel photovoltaic systems, trackers are used to mi ...

Solar updraft tower The solar updraft tower (SUT) is a design concept for a renewable-energy power plant for generating electricity from low temperature solar heat. Sunshine heats the air beneath a very wide greenhouse-like roofed collector structure surrounding t ...

* Solar variation *

Solar variation theory The solar cycle, also known as the solar magnetic activity cycle, sunspot cycle, or Schwabe cycle, is a nearly periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the Sun's surfa ...

* Solar vehicle * Solar water disinfection *

Solar water heating Solar water heating (SWH) is heating water by sunlight, using a solar thermal collector. A variety of configurations are available at varying cost to provide solutions in different climates and latitudes. SWHs are widely used for residential an ...

* Solar wind *

Solarium Solarium may refer to: * A sunroom, a room built largely of glass to afford exposure to the sun * A terrace (building) or flat housetop * The '' Solarium Augusti'', a monumental meridian line (or perhaps a sundial) erected in Rome by Emperor Augu ...

* SolarPACES * Sopogy *

Space-based solar power Space-based solar power (SBSP, SSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in outer space by solar power satellites (SPS) and distributing it to Earth. Its advantages include a higher collection of energy due to the lack of reflection and ab ...

* Sun * Sun tanning * Sunburn *

Sunscreen Sunscreen, also known as sunblock or sun cream, is a photoprotective topical product for the skin that mainly absorbs, or to a much lesser extent reflects, some of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation and thus helps protect against sunburn and ...

* Sunshade

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* Mária Telkes * Thin-film * Timeline of solar cells *

Topaz Solar Farm Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 megawatt ( MWAC) photovoltaic power station in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Construction on the project began in November 2011 and ended in November 2014. It is one of the world's largest sola ...

Total spectrum solar concentrator Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...

* Trombe wall

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* Ubiquitous Energy

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World Solar Challenge The World Solar Challenge (WSC), since 2013 named Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, is an international event for solar powered cars driving 3000 kilometres through the Australian outback. With the exception of a four-year gap between ...

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See also