Concentrating solar power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV) :

Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. The concentrated light is then used as a heat source for a conventional power plant or is concentrated onto photovoltaic surfaces.

Photovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sun energy (sunlight, including sun ultra violet radiation) directly into electricity. Due to the growing demand for clean sources of energy, the manufacture of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has expanded dramatically in recent years.

Hybrid electric vehicle :

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional propulsion system with a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) to achieve better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle. Its secondary propulsion system, additional to the electric motors, means that it does not require regular visits to a charging unit as a battery electric vehicle (BEV) does.

Modern mass-produced HEVs prolong the charge in their batteries by capturing kinetic energy by means of regenerative braking, and some HEVs can use the internal combustion engine (ICE) to generate electricity by spinning an electrical generator (often a motor-generator) to either recharge the battery or directly feed power to an electric motor that drives the vehicle. Many HEVs reduce idle emissions by shutting down the ICE at idle and restarting it when needed (start-stop system). An HEV’s engine is smaller than a non-hybrid fossil-fuel vehicle (petroleum fuel vehicle) and may be run at various speeds, providing greater efficiency.

A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) :

A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid vehicle with batteries that can be recharged by connecting a plug to an electric power source. It shares the characteristics of both traditional hybrid electric vehicles (also called charge-maintaining hybrid electric vehicles), having an electric motor and a internal combustion engine, and of battery electric vehicles, also having a plug to connect to the electric grid (it is a plug-in vehicle). Most PHEVs on the road today are passenger cars, but there are also PHEV versions of commercial passenger vans, utility trucks, school buses, motorcycles, scooters, and military vehicles. They are sometimes called grid-connected hybrids, gas-optional hybrids, or GO-HEVs.

The cost for electricity to power plug-in hybrids for all-electric operation has been estimated at less than one quarter of the cost of gasoline. Compared to conventional vehicles, PHEVs can reduce air pollution, dependence on petroleum, and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.Plug-in hybrids use no fossil fuel during their all-electric range if their batteries are charged from nuclear or renewable energy sources. Other benefits include improved national energy security, fewer fill-ups at the filling station, the convenience of home recharging, opportunities to provide emergency backup power in the home, and vehicle to grid applications.

Electric Vehicle (EV)

An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle with one or more electric motors for propulsion. This is also referred to as an electric drive vehicle. The motion may be provided either by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors, or in the case of tracked vehicles, by linear motors.

Unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) that is tuned to specifically operate with a particular fuel such as gasoline or diesel, an electric drive vehicle needs electricity, which comes from sources such as batteries or a generator. This flexibility allows the drive train of the vehicle to remain the same, while the fuel source can be changed.

The electricity used to propel the vehicle may be provided in many different ways, the energy can come from any source, fossil fuels, nuclear power, tidal power, solar, wind etc. and this energy can either be supplied to the vehicle continuously as it is used or stored in the vehicle in some way, such as batteries or fuel cells.

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidiser (usually air) in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases, that are produced by the combustion, directly apply force to a movable component of the engine, such as the pistons or turbine blades and by moving it over a distance, generate useful mechanical energy.

The term internal combustion engine usually refers to an engine in which combustion is intermittent, such as the more familiar four-stroke and two-stroke piston engines, along with variants, such as the Wankel rotary engine. A second class of internal combustion engines use continuous combustion: gas turbines, jet engines and most rocket engines, each of which are internal combustion engines on the same principle as previously described