Energy storage glossary, A to Z.
Plain-English definitions of the terms behind every spec sheet, datasheet and quote. Filter by topic or jump straight to a letter.
AC Coupling
AC coupling connects a battery energy storage system to the AC side of a photovoltaic installation. The battery has its own inverter/charger and shares the building's AC bus with the solar inverter, rather than wiring into the DC path between the panels and the inverter.
Read articleAC vs DC Coupling
AC coupling connects a battery to the AC side of a solar installation via a dedicated inverter; DC coupling connects the battery directly to the solar array on a shared DC bus, requiring fewer conversion stages and achieving higher round-trip efficiency.
Read articleAir vs Liquid Cooling
Air vs liquid cooling are the two main approaches to removing heat from a battery energy storage system: fans and HVAC units circulate air across the cells, or a closed water-glycol loop carries heat away through cold plates — the right choice depends on system size, duty cycle, climate, and lifecycle cost.
Read articleAmp-hour (Ah)
A measure of battery charge capacity; multiply by voltage to get energy in watt-hours.
Baseload Power
Baseload power is the minimum level of electrical demand on a grid over a given period that must be met continuously, around the clock, before the higher daytime and evening peaks are added. The term describes a property of the load, not a type of power plant: any mix of steady generation, dispatchable capacity and storage that covers that minimum is providing baseload supply, and the plants traditionally called "baseload plants" are one way to do it rather than the definition of the word.
Read articleBattery Management System (BMS)
Electronics that monitor and protect cells, balancing charge and blocking unsafe voltages.
Read articleBattery Wiring
How cells or packs are connected in series, parallel or both to reach a target voltage and capacity.
C-rate
The speed of charge or discharge relative to capacity; 1C empties a pack in one hour.
Read articleCapacity Degradation
The gradual loss of usable capacity as a battery ages and accumulates cycles.