How Solar Power Works

July 5, 2010 by SolarInfo
Filed under Home Improvement

Mark Draper asked:

A quick guide to give you an idea how solar power actually works and what it can do for you.
Solar energy is light or heat comes from our sun. Solar power is generated by collecting this energy and converting into a usable form, e.g. electricity or heat. It is clean, pollution free, and in all practical terms, inexhaustible. The sun is going to continue to shine for billions of years.

There are two main types of solar power systems that you can use in your home. The first of these is photovoltaic this system is used to produce electricity for your home. These generally consist of a solar panel, an inverter and a metering system. The second commonly used system is solar thermal, which is usually used to heat the water in your home for bathing etc, or even to heat the water in your swimming pool.

But in this article, I'm mainly going to talk about creating cheap electricity.

Most solar power systems use photovoltaic modules installed on your rooftop to create and collect energy from sunlight. These solar panels produce direct current (D/C) electricity. But to be of any use in the home, this DC power has to be converted into alternating current (A/C), which is the form of electricity used in your home to run your TV, washing machine, etc. This is where the inverter comes in, putting it simply DC power goes in at one end and usable A/C power comes out the other.

This system is often connected through a meter to the main power grid; this will allow you to use traditional electricity. When the sun isn't shining (at night), and it also gives you the ability to sell any excess power you may generate back to the power companies. Thus allowing you to offset the cost of the power that you've used during the night against the excess that you have generated during the day and supplied back to the power companies.

Solar cells are produced with the wafers of silicon. When light falls on the cells and electric current is produced, and a collection of solar cells connected together forms. What is generally known as a solar panel. These solar panels often installed on a south facing roof of your home at a angle of around 30?. This angle is important to maximize solar collection and if the pitch of your roof is not correct. You can easily create a mounting frame to maximize the amount of solar power your collecting.

Over the last few years, technology has moved on, is now possible to build your own DIY solar panels at home, cheaply. In fact, you could probably equip your house with solar panels for as little as $300 and for many years to come you will be able to reap the benefit of extremely cheap electricity, and at the same time be able to slash the bills you receive from your power company to almost nothing.

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