Alternating Current (AC)
The electricity used in your building is AC, or Alternating Current. AC electricity changes voltage periodically, typically 60 times a second.

Ampere or Amp
A measure of the flow of electric current abbreviated and commonly referred to as an amp.

Baseline
The maximum usage that can be billed at the lowest price for a particular rate schedule. Baseline Quantity varies by season, climate zone and heat source.

Breaker Box
A breaker box holds all of your circuit breakers. Circuit breakers turn electricity on/off to areas of your house.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas that is present in the Earth’s atmosphere at a low concentration and acts as a greenhouse gas. The most common global warming theories attribute temperature increases to increases in the greenhouse effect caused primarily by human-generated carbon dioxide (CO2)

Current
Current is the flow of electrons in an electric circuit.

DC Lighting
Lighting loads that are able to run on direct current (DC). Typically lights in a business are powered by alternating current (AC). Many off–grid buildings use DC lighting to avoid losses in the inverter.

Direct Current (DC)
The electrons in direct current flow in one direction. The current produced by a battery is direct current.

Electrical Loads
A load is anything that uses electricity.

Electric Service Panel
Often referred to as a “breaker box”, this panel houses the breakers or fuses that protect the electrical loads in your facility. Power coming from either the utility company or your Palmetto Green Energy System will be distributed to loads in your building from here.

Energy Audit
A process used to evaluate the usage of electricity in your business or building. The purpose of the process is to identify opportunities to reduce usage through equipment retrofits or repairs.

Grid
The infrastructure used by utility companies to distribute power to its consumers.

Grid-tied
Refers to electric systems that are capable of feeding power to the grid (or utility company). This is in contrast to “off–grid” or “stand alone” systems that do not have this capability.

kW
A unit used to measure power. Power is the product of current and voltage.

kWh
A unit used to measure energy consumption. This is the unit used by utilities to calculate your electric bill. It is the amount of energy consumed by a 1000-Watt appliance running for 1 hour.

Net Metering
Agreement between the utility company and the system owner allowing for ‘banking’ excess power produced by a system in the electric grid and ‘drawing’ from the electric grid when more power is needed.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Pollutant gases produced by burning fossil fuels.

Off-grid
A system not connected to a utility grid.

On-grid
A system connected to the utility grid which utilizes the grid for backup energy.

Power
Electricity provided to a building or community.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Polluting, colorless gas with a choking odor produced by burning fossil fuel.

Time of Use
A rate schedule in which the utility customer is charged different amounts for power based on the time of day and season. Typically peak rates are during summer afternoons. Customers who generate power during peak rates will be credited by the utility company at those peak rates.

Voltage
The rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces a flow of electricity.