G

Ga — See gallium.

GaAs — See gallium arsenide.

Gallium (Ga) — A chemical element, metallic in nature, used in making certain kinds of solar cells and semiconductor devices.

Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) — A crystalline, high-efficiency compound used to make certain types of solar cells and semiconductor material.

Gassing — The evolution of gas from one or more of the electrodes in the cells of a battery. Gassing commonly results from local action self-discharge or from the electrolysis of water in the electrolyte during charging.

Gassing Current — The portion of charge current that goes into electrolytical production of hydrogen and oxygen from the electrolytic liquid. This current increases with increasing voltage and temperature.

Gel-Type Battery — Lead-acid battery in which the electrolyte is composed of a silica gel matrix.

Gigawatt (GW) — A unit of power equal to 1 billion Watts; 1 million kilowatts, or 1,000 megawatts.

Grid — See electrical grid.

Grid-Connected System — A solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) system in which the PV array acts like a central generating plant, supplying power to the grid.

Grid-Interactive System — Same as grid-connected system.

Grid Lines — Metallic contacts fused to the surface of the solar cell to provide a low resistance path for electrons to flow out to the cell interconnect wires.