Politics & Government

Sustainable Energy Series: Useful Terms

Just in case you were wondering what all these key words mean.

Going along with Sachem Patch's nine week series on sustainable energy is a list of key words you'll be reading. To inform the public, we've created a Useful Terms list that will be accessible throughout the series. It will also be linked to every story in the series:

Electrical grid: An interconnected network for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers. 

Energy efficiency (EE): The use of less energy to provide the same energy service. 

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ENERGY STAR Equipment: ENERGY STAR is a trusted, government-backed symbol for energy efficiency which helps save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices. The ENERGY STAR label was established to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy, as well as to make it easy for consumers to identify and purchase energy-efficient products that offer savings on energy bills without sacrificing performance, features, and comfort. ENERGY STAR equipment can be found across a large range of products including appliances (refrigerators and diswashers), computers and electronics (cordless phones, computers, televisions and battery chargers), lighting (bulbs and fixtures), plumbing (water heares and water pumps), as well as building materials (windows, doors and skylights), to name a few.

Gigawatt-hour (GWh): The unit of energy equal to that expended in one hour at a rate of one billion watts. One GWh equals 1,000 megawatt-hours.

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Home energy audit: according to the Energy Star web site, a home energy audit is often the first step in making a home more efficient. An audit can help you assess how much energy your home uses and evaluate what measures you can take to improve efficiency. But remember, audits alone don't save energy. You need to implement the recommended improvements. ENERGY STAR provides extensive information about home improvement projects to enhance energy efficiency, lower utility bills, and increase comfort.

Kilowatt: A kilowatt is equal to one thousand watts. One kilowatt of power is approximately equal to 1.34 horsepower. A small electric heater with one heating element can use 1.0 kilowatt. The average annual electrical energy consumption of a household in the United States is about 8,900 kilowatt-hours, equivalent to a steady power consumption of about 1 kW, for an entire year. 

Kilowatt-hour (kWh): This is a measure of consumption. It is the amount of electricity that is used over some period of time, typically a one-month period for billing purposes. Customers are charged a rate per kWh of electricity used.

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED): is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). These standards verify that a building was designed and constructed using strategies intended to improve performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. To learn more, visit the USGBC Website.

Megawatt (MW): A megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts or 1 million watts.

Megawatt-hour (MWh): The unit of energy equal to that expended in one hour at a rate of one million watts. One MWh equals 3,414,000 Btus.

Net metering: When a renewable energy system, such as a PV solar system or a wind farm, produces more energy than its onsite location can use the excess energy is sent back into the electrical grid to be used by someone else. In the instance of the Sachem area, the excess energy produced would be sent back to the electrical utility company LIPA. Find out more about LIPA's net metering policies here.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar system: A  solar system that can be used in residential and commerical applications. A PV solar system works in three steps with three main elements. First, the solar panel(s) collect solar rays and produces a direct current (DC) of electricity. Then, an inverter is used to convert the DC electric current into an alternating current (AC), the type of electric used in households and businesses. Through electrical equipment (electrical wire, conduit, and meter) the AC current flows into a home or business as usable electricity. If the solar panels produce more than is needed by the home or business, the extra electricity will cause the system's meter to run backwards.

* Two examples of PV systems in the Sachem area can be found on Hawkins Avenue. Both the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall (607 Hawkins Avenue) and the Lake Grove Town Hall (980 Hawkins Avenue) have a PV solar system. 

Renewable Energy (RE): Natural sources of energy such as the sun, wind, hydro, geothermal heat, biomass and biofuels.

Sustainable energy (SE): Energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. Examples of sustainable energy include renewables like solar power, wind power, hydro power, geothermal power and tidal power.


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