Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms (by no means complete)

• Amp - The quantity of power that is moving through a wire or electrical component
• Busbar or Bus bar -
• Volt(s) DC (VDC) - Type of electrical that is commonly leveraged with batteries for storage (commonly 12V, 24V, 36V, and 48V)
• Volt(s) AC (VAC) - Type of electrical that is used in most homes in North America as a 240V split phase. At house receptacles, this will be measured around 120V
• Impedance - (usually measured in Ohms) is the resistance that power faces when traveling from source to destination
• AWG - American wire gauge, a standard size of wire utilized in the USA for measuring wire sizes
• Series - Connecting the positive end of one cell or battery to the negative of another and then measuring (or using) the opposite ends for a higher voltage. When putting cells or batteries in series, you want to have similar (or ideally the same) capacity on each cell, battery, or group.
• Parallel - Connecting the positive (to positive) and negative (to negative) ends of cells or batteries with the intent of increasing the capacity. These do not have to be the same capacity, but it helps a bit. When connecting multiple cells in parallel, it is best to take power from the extreme far ends of the groups.
• Islanding protection - this is a feature of grid tied inverters to shut off during a power outage to protect line workers from accidental shock.