This document defines basic terms relating to the work of ISO/TC 180. The committee covers standardization in the field of the measurement of solar radiation and solar energy utilization in space and water heating, cooling, industrial process heating and air conditioning. Consequently, the vocabulary within this document is focussed on definitions relating to those measurement and utilisation technologies.

Since the 1999 version of this document there has been considerable development in solar photovoltaic technologies and high temperature solar thermal technologies that use heat to produce electricity or to provide high temperatures for processes that require elevated temperatures. This standard has some definitions that are useful also for those technologies; however, there are other documents that cover vocabulary for these technologies in more detail.