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 more efficient to effectively compete with other energy sources; developing…

In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it does not involve the use of…

SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California, that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company was founded on July 4, 2006, by Peter and Lyndon Rive, the…

A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using multiple solar modules that consist of photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light.

A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by using the photovoltaic effect. It is a type of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics (such as current, voltage, or resistance) vary when it is…

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 important with renewable energy sources like wind and solar, which are…

Electric car use by country varies worldwide, as the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles is affected by consumer demand, market prices, availability of charging infrastructure, and government policies, such as purchase incentives and long term regulatory signals (ZEV mandates, CO2 emissions regulations, fuel economy…

SolaX Power Network Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 艾罗能源), commonly known as SolaX Power or SolaX, is a Chinese manufacturer of solar inverters and energy-storage products headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal, which have been adopted in 38 of 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The United States federal RPS is called the Renewable…

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain…