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GLOSSARY The following technical terms are used in throughout our website. Grammatical variations of these terms should be interpreted in the same way. |
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| “feed-in tariff” | -- The price per unit of energy paid to on-grid suppliers of electricity, through a subsidy scheme where the owners of solar power systems receive a guaranteed, fixed price from electricity utility companies for the electricity fed into the grid |
| “GDP” | -- Gross domestic product, the total market value of all the goods and services produced within the borders of a nation during a specified period |
| “GW” | -- Gigawatt, a unit of power equal to one billion watts |
| “ingot” or“silicon ingot” | -- A silicon piece created when polysilicon is melted and crystallized in a furnace. The typical size of monocrystalline ingots is 680 x 680mm with a weight of 250-300kg. Monocrystalline ingots are cylindrical with typical diameters between 150mm and 200mm and a weight of 40-60kg |
| “kW” | -- K ilowatt, a unit of power equal to one thousand watts |
| “kWh” | -- A unit of energy, equivalent to one thousand watts operating for one hour |
| “monocrystalline” | -- F ormed of a single crystal unit |
| “mtoe” | -- Million tonnes of oil equivalent |
| “MW” | -- Megawatt, a unit of power equal to one million watts, which is used as an output measure in the PV industry implying the potential peak effect produced by the solar cells |
| “off-grid” | -- A standalone energy source which provides electricity independently from an electricity transmission grid |
| “on-grid” | -- An energy source which is connected to an electricity transmission grid |
| “price per watt” | -- The method by which PV products, such as wafers, cells and modules, are priced, namely the number of watts of electricity the product can generate |
| “R&D” | -- Research and development |
| “solar module”or“panel” | -- Multiple PV cells connected together, often encapsulated behind glass |
| “silicon wafer” | -- A thin slice of crystalline silicon used as the key component in a solar cell |
| “semi-conductor” | -- An integrated circuit or microchip, a component which provides the memory, logic and virtually all other intelligence functions in electronic systems |
| “thin film technology” | -- PV technology in which several thin layers of silicon are deposited on a substrate such as glass to make a PV cell |
| “W” or “watt” | -- The standard measure of electrical power |
| “wafer slicing” | -- A process where crystallised silicon ingots are cut into thin slices using a saw with a web of thin metal wires |
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