For the purpose of this subchapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless the context in which they are used specifically indicates otherwise:
AMBIENT. The sound pressure level exceeded 90% of the time or L90.
ANEMOMETER TOWER. A freestanding tower containing instrumentation such as anemometers that is designed to provide present moment wind data for use by the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system which is an accessory land use to a utility grid wind energy system.
ANSI. The American National Standards Institute.
DB(A). The sound pressure level in decibels. It refers to the “a” weighted scale defined by ANSI. A method for weighting the frequency spectrum to mimic the human ear.
DECIBEL. The unit of measure used to express the magnitude of sound pressure and sound intensity.
IEC. The International Electro Technical Commission.
ISO. The International Organization for Standardization.
ON SITE WIND ENERGY SYSTEM. A land use for generating electric power from wind that is an accessory to a legal principal use and intended to primarily serve the needs of electric power consumer at that site.
NET METERING. An arrangement by which excess energy generated by a renewable energy system is distributed back to the electrical utility grid.
PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE. A system of components that generates electric energy from incident sunlight by means of the photovoltaic effect, whether the device is able to store the electric energy produced for later use.
RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM. A system that generates energy from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, and geothermal heat. As used in this subchapter, the term RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM refers to wind energy systems and solar energy systems only.
ROTOR. An element of a wind energy system that acts as a multi-bladed airfoil assembly, thereby extracting through rotation kinetic energy directly from the wind.
SHADOW FLICKER. Alternating changes in light intensity caused by the moving blades of a wind energy system casting shadows on the ground and stationary objects, such as, but not limited to, a window at a dwelling.
SOLAR ARRAY. Any number of photovoltaic devices connected to provide a single output of electric energy of other energy.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM. A system that uses the power of the sun to capture, distribute and/or store energy for on-site consumption of utility power.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, BUILDING-INTEGRATED. A solar energy system that is an integral part of a principal or accessory building, rather than a separate mechanical device, replacing or substituting for an architectural or structural component of a building.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, BUILDING-MOUNTED. A solar energy system affixed to either the principal or accessory structure.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, GROUND-MOUNTED. A solar energy system that is not attached to another structure and is affixed to the ground or that is attached to an antenna, light pole or other utility facility.
SOLAR FARM (LARGE SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM). A commercial utility solar energy system where the primary use of the land is to generate electric energy or other energy by converting sunlight, whether by photovoltaic devices or other conversion technology, for the sale, delivery or consumption of the generated energy with a capacity greater than one megawatt (MW).
SOUND PRESSURE. An average rate at which sound energy is transmitted through a unit area in a specified direction. The pressure of the sound measured at a receiver.
SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL. The sound pressure mapped to a logarithmic scale and reported in decibels (dB).
WIND ENERGY SYSTEM. A wind energy conversion system consisting of wind turbine, a tower or mounting, and associated control or conversion electronics, which is intended primarily to reduce on-site consumption of utility power.
(Ord. 2019-02, passed 6-10-2019)