A-B | C-D | E-F | G-I | K-N | O-R | S-Z |
AECB Association for Environment Conscious Building - www.aecb.net
AEP Association of Electricity Producers - www.aepuk.com
AM Air Mass
AQM Air Quality Management
BETTA British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements - a single set of wholesale electricity trading and transmission arrangements introduced to harmonise electricity trading across Great Britain.
BIPV Building Integrated Photovoltaics - refers to photovoltaic systems integrated into a building, usually as a replacement for traditional building materials.
BOS Balance of System - the parts of the photovoltaic system other than the PV array: switches, controls, meters, power-conditioning equipment, supporting structure for the array and storage components, if any.
BRE Building Research Establishment - www.bre.co.uk
BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method - www.breeam.org
BWEA British Wind Energy Association - www.bwea.com
CCGT Combined Cycle Gas Turbine - Combined cycles use both gas and steam turbine cycles in a single plant to produce electricity with high conversion efficiencies and low emissions.
CCL Climate Change Levy - this Levy is charged on industrial and commercial use of energy and is one of the Government's tools for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
CDM Construction Design and Management
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CFL Compact Fluorescent Lamp
CHP Combined Heat and Power
CHPA Combined Heat and Power Association - www.chpa.co.uk
CIBSE The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers - www.cibse.org
CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight
CLP Colonial Properties Trust
CMS Content Management System - system for the creation, modification, archiving and removal of information resources from an organised repository. Includes tools for publishing, format management, revision control, indexing, search and retrieval.
COG Cost of Goods
CORGI The Council for Registered Gas Installers
CREA Confederation of Renewable Energy Associations
CRU Climate Research Unit
CSA Cross Sectional Area
D&M Display & Monitoring
DDP Delivered Duty Paid
DDU Delivered Duty Unpaid
DEFRA Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
DETR Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions
DFT Domestic Field Trial
DGCG Distributed Generation Co-ordination Group
DIYHEC Do It Yourself Home Energy Check
DMFC Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
DNO Distribution Network Operator
DOD Depth Of Discharge
DOE Department Of Energy
DSE Display System Equipment
DTI Department of Trade & Industry
DTLR Department of Transport, Local Government and Regions
EAS Energy Advisory Service
EBITDA Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
ECD Energy Conversion Devices
EDM Environmental Design and Management
EEAC Energy Efficiency Advise Centre
EEBPP Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme
EEC Energy Efficiency Commitment (the new name for EESoP)
EEP Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes
ENA Energy Network Association
ENEL Italian National Electricity Utility
EPIA European Photovoltaic Industry Association
EREC European Renewable Energy Council
ESCO Energy Services Company
ESCO's Energy Services Companies
ESI Electricity Supply Industry
EST Energy Saving Trust - www.est.org.uk
ETFE Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene - a partially fluorinated polymer containing hydrogen, with good heat resistance.
ETS Emissions Trading Scheme
ETSU Energy Technology Support Unit
EVA Ethylene Vinyl Acetate
FF Fill Factor
FMCG Fast Moving Consumer Goods
FOB Free On Board
GCC Gas Consumer Council
GCCP Government Construction Client Panel
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEMA Gas and Electricity Markets Authority
GGL Glass Glass Laminates
GLA General London Authority - www.london.gov.uk
GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic
H&S Health & Safety
HA Housing Association
HAE Hydro Aluminium Extrusion
HD Housing Developer
HECA Home Energy Conservation Act - www.defra.gov.uk/environment/energy/heca95/
HIT Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer
HSE Health and Safety Executive - www.hse.gov.uk/
INREB Integrated New and Renewable Energy in Buildings
IPR Intellectual Property Rights - monopoly protection for creative works such as writing (copyright), inventions (patents), processes (trade secrets) and identifiers (trademarks).
IRR Internal Rate of Return - the discount rate at which the present value of the future cash flows of an investment is equal to the cost of the investment. When IRR is greater than the required return the investment is acceptable.
ISES International Solar Energy Society - www.ises.org/ises.nsf!Open
KTP Knowledge Transfer Partnership (formerly TCS) - http://web.apu.ac.uk/tcs/
LASER Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation - a device that amplifies light waves and concentrates them in a narrow, very intense beam of energy.
LCC Life Cycle Cost - the overall estimated cost for a particular system over the time period corresponding to the life of the system. It includes direct and indirect initial costs plus any periodic or continuing costs of operation and maintenance.
LPA Local Planning Authority
MDP Major Demonstration Program - www.est.org.uk/housingbuildings/funding/solarpv/
MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracking - every solar PV device has a point where maximum current is delivered. MPPT electronically adjusts the output PV-device output to the maximum power point.
MVHR Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery - this is the process whereby moist waste air from a home is replaced with fresh air from outside. Recovering this heat can provide a large proportion of the heat required to keep a home at comfortable living temperatures.
NES National Energy Services (NHER) - www.nesltd.co.uk/nher.html
NET New Energy Trust
NETA The New Electricity Trading Arrangements - designed to replace the old POOL arrangements for the sale of electricity in England and Wales. NETA introduced a market system in which electricity suppliers, the old electricity boards, buy electricity from generators, using a screen-based system like that used in commodity trading.
NFFO Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation - before the introduction of the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation was the Government's major instrument for encouraging growth within the renewable energy industry. The NFFO assisted the industry by providing premium payments for renewables-generated electricity over a fixed period, with contracts being awarded to individual generators.
NFPA Non-Fossil Purchasing Agency - set up in 1990 by the twelve Regional Electricity Companies as their agent for the purpose of enabling them to enter into collective arrangements to discharge their obligations under the Orders.
NHBC National House Builders Council - www.nhbc.co.uk/
NHER National Home Energy Rating - www.nher.co.uk
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - www.oecd.org/home/0,2605,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
OFGEM Office of Gas and Electricity Markets - www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem/index.jsp
OFREG Office for the Regulation of Electricity & Gas - www.ofreg.nics.gov.uk/
OS Open Source - computer software source code that is released under an open-source license or to the public domain. Open source licenses include the GNU General Public License. Popular open-source software includes: Firefox, Apache, PHP, Mozilla and the Linux kernel.
OWSEP Organic Waste for Sustainable Energy Production
PAT Portable Appliance Tester - the routine inspection and testing of portable electrical appliances, especially those used in severe environments such as building sites, is an important safety requirement.
PDA Portable Digital Assistant - hand-held personal computers, usually equipped with calendars, electronic address books and other features for both business and personal use.
PEMFC Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell - a type of acid-based fuel cell in which the exchange of protons (H+) from the anode to the cathode is achieved by a solid, water-swollen membrane electrolyte impregnated with a strong acid.
PES Public Electricity Supplier
PIR Passive Infra-Red– PIR detectors identify the Infra-Red emitted by hot objects such as people and animals. They are used in burglar alarm systems, and to control the security lighting that many people have fitted outside their houses.
PPE Personal Protection Equipment - designed to be worn, or held, by a person at work to protect them against hazards likely to endanger their health or safety at work.
PRASEG Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group - a cross-parliamentary group to promote renewable and sustainable energy issues in the UK Parliament. www.praseg.org.uk/
PV Photovoltaics - technology that produces electric power directly from the sunlight. "Photo" refers to light and "voltaic" to voltage.
RAB The Renewables Advisory Board - provides advice to Government on a wide range of renewable energy issues. The board is an independent, non-departmental public body sponsored by the DTI that brings together government departments, the renewables industry and the unions.
RADAR RAdio Detection And Ranging - a method of estimating the distance or travel speed of an object by bouncing high frequency signals off the object and measuring the reflected signal.
RCEP Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution - www.rcep.org.uk/
RDA Regional Development Agency - Non-Departmental Public Bodies, sponsored by Central Government Departments, for the development of each of the UK's regions.
REA The Renewable Energy Association - www.r-p-a.org.uk/home.fcm
REEP Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme - www.reeep.org/
RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects - www.riba.org/go/RIBA/Home.html
ROCs Renewable Obligation Certificates - the digital certificates that hold details of exactly how a unit of electricity was made, by whom and finally who bought and used it. These ROCs are traded separately to the actual electricity itself and work as a bonus premium on top of the price paid for the unit
RSL Registered Social Landlord - a housing association or a not for profit company registered by the Housing Corporation to provide social housing.
SAGE Sustainable Action Group Exchange - www.sage-rsa.org.uk
SAP Standard Assessment Procedure - the Government's standard for assessing the energy efficiency performance of dwellings.
SCH Solar Century Holdings
SCHRI Scottish Community & Household Renewables Initiative - www.est.org.uk/schri
SHF Sustainable Housing Forum - www.tcpa.org.uk/shf.htm
SOC State of Charge - a ratio, expressed in percent of the energy remaining in a battery in relation to its capacity when full.
STA Solar Trade Association - www.greenenergy.org.uk/sta
STC Standard Test Conditions - the testing conditions to measure the nomimal output power of photovoltaic cells or modules. Irradiance level is 1 000 W/m², with the reference air mass 1.5 solar spectral irradiance distribution and cell or module junction temperature of 25°C.
SUDS Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems - A sustainable drainage system aims to mimic as closely as possible the natural drainage of a site to minimise the impact of urban development on the flooding and pollution of waterways.
t2e The Environment Exchange - provides the central marketplace on which companies may display firm buying and selling prices for Aluminium, Glass, Paper, Plastic, Steel, Wood, Recovery and General Recycling Packaging Recovery Notes.
TCPA Town & Country Planning Association - www.tcpa.org.uk
ULSD Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel - a cleaner diesel fuel with a lower sulphur content.
UV Ultra-Violet Radiation - electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength shorter than that of the visible region, but longer than that of soft X-rays.