Alternative Energy: Acronyms

[Sparty]

List of commonly used acronyms in alternative energy

BESS: Battery Energy Storage System (system that stores electrical energy for later use)

BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle (vehicle that runs on electricity stored in a battery pack)

CEV: Clean Energy Vehicle (general term for any vehicle with lower emissions than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles)

CHP: Combined Heat and Power (system that generates electricity and captures waste heat for heating purposes, improving overall energy efficiency)

CPV: Concentrated Photovoltaic (type of solar panel that uses lenses to concentrate sunlight onto a smaller area of solar cells)

CSP: Concentrated Solar Power (technology that uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight to heat a liquid. The heated liquid is then used to generate electricity)

EV: Electric Vehicle (umbrella term for all vehicles powered by electricity, including BEVs, PHEVs, and FCEVs)

FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (vehicle that uses electricity generated by a hydrogen fuel cell)
GWh: Gigawatt-hour (unit of energy equal to 1,000 megawatt-hours)

HEV: Hybrid Electric Vehicle (vehicle that combines an electric motor with a gasoline engine)

HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (system that controls temperature and air quality within a building)

LCA: Life Cycle Assessment (assessment of the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle)

LED: Light Emitting Diode (highly energy-efficient lighting technology)

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (green building rating system)

MWh: Megawatt-hour (unit of energy equal to 1,000 kilowatt-hours)

Net Zero: A condition where greenhouse gas emissions are offset by greenhouse gas removals

PHEV: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (vehicle that can be powered by an electric battery and a gasoline engine)

PV: Photovoltaic (technology that converts sunlight into electricity using solar panels)

RES: Renewable Energy Sources (sources of energy that are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat)

TWh: Terawatt-hour (unit of energy equal to 1,000 gigawatt-hours)

WH: Watt-hour (unit of energy equal to one watt of power for one hour)

kWh: Kilowatt-hour (unit of energy equal to 1,000 watt-hours. Commonly used for billing purposes in electricity)

[Sparty]

General Renewable Energy

RES: Renewable Energy Sources

RE: Renewable Energy

SREC: Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (certificate representing the environmental benefits of solar power)

ROE: Renewable Obligation Certificate (similar to SREC, but used in some regions)

IEA-RE: International Energy Agency - Renewable Energy (IEA division focused on renewables)

IRENA: International Renewable Energy Agency

Solar Energy

PV: Photovoltaic

CPV: Concentrated Photovoltaic

CSP: Concentrated Solar Power

BIPV: Building-integrated Photovoltaics (solar panels integrated into the building envelope)

**Si: **Silicon (the most common material used in solar cells)

CIGS: Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (thin-film solar cell technology)

CdTe: Cadmium Telluride (another thin-film solar cell technology)

PTC: Photovoltaic Performance Testing Center (organization that tests and certifies solar panels)

STPV: Single-junction Thin-film Photovoltaic

MTCP: Multi-junction Thin-film Photovoltaic

Wind Energy

WECS: Wind Energy Conversion System

WTG: Wind Turbine Generator

AWEA: American Wind Energy Association (US wind industry association)

IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission (sets international standards for wind turbines)

kWh: Kilowatt-hour

MWh: Megawatt-hour

LCOE: Levelized Cost of Energy (measure of the average net cost of electricity over the lifetime of a generating plant)

CAPEX: Capital Expenditure (the cost of investing in a wind farm)

OPEX: Operating Expenditure (the ongoing costs of operating a wind farm)

Hydropower

HEP: Hydroelectric Power

HPP: Hydroelectric Power Plant

FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

DAM: Discharge At Minimum (minimum amount of water that must be released from a hydroelectric dam)

MW: Megawatt (unit of electrical power)

Pumped Hydro: A type of hydroelectric storage using pumped water to store energy
Geothermal Energy

GEO: Geothermal Energy Organization

GTMS: Geothermal Technologies Market Report

GEA: Geothermal Energy Association

GHP: Ground-Source Heat Pump (uses geothermal energy for heating and cooling)

EGS: Enhanced Geothermal System (technology to create artificial geothermal reservoirs)

Biomass Energy

Biomass: Organic matter used as a renewable energy source

BM: Biomethane (renewable natural gas produced from organic matter)

WTE: Waste-to-Energy (conversion of waste into electricity or heat)

ALGAS: Refers to the use of algae for biofuel production

Other Renewable Energy Sources

Tidal: Refers to energy generated from the tides

OTEC: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (uses the temperature difference between deep and surface ocean water to generate electricity)

WSH: Wave Surge Hydropower (uses the energy of waves to generate electricity)

H2: Hydrogen (used in fuel cell electric vehicles)

EV: Electric Vehicle

BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle

PHEV: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

This list is extensive but not exhaustive as this is a rapidly developing/enlarging field.