You must have noticed the bright, colorful roofs many buildings have these days, haven’t you? These roofs seem to dazzle with colors of various shades as soon as the sunlight falls on them. However, these are not luxury items for mothers that only enhance the beauty of a home. In fact, they are solar panels, which serve a very important purpose, namely the generation of electricity, which can be used by homeowners for domestic purposes. More than 10,000 residences in the United States of America were found to have home solar energy systems, according to a recent survey. Photovoltaic solar cells have been found to be present in more than 200,000 blocks of houses (in major US cities). These solar cells generate power in the form of AC. Furthermore, far from being just a local US phenomenon, the growing popularity of solar energy is, in fact, a global trend. Around the world, more users are switching to solar energy systems over time.
Learn about the intricacies of a solar energy system.
A typical solar power system has certain specific components. First of all, an inverter must be present, which could generate usable electrical power from 120 volts AC, when DC current is passed through it. Direct current, in turn, is produced by taking advantage of the solar energy captured by photovoltaic panels. Wires are required to hold the parts of the system together, and different poles and clamps are used to install the solar power system on top of roofs and/or in areas that receive abundant sunlight for most of the day. . In addition, the system can also have a backup battery. For practical purposes, a certain number of photovoltaic (PV) cells are grouped together to form a module. Several of these modules can be combined to obtain a solar panel.
Let’s now try to understand what is the need to use these systems and who actually uses them. Two basic reasons become immediately apparent, as solar power systems are becoming popular both in on-grid areas and in off-grid localities (where utility power remains inaccessible to people).
Typically, the systems generate power only during the day, as long as sunlight remains available. This is because these systems stop working at night. This factor worked against solar power units and prevented them from becoming popular sooner. As a result, solar energy could not be used much at the time. However, the situation has completely changed due to the tremendous technological advances that have occurred. Now, the additional amounts of electricity, produced during the day, can be stored and then recovered and used at night. Electrical energy storage is also useful on days that remain cloudy. In fact, technological advances have made the modern solar energy system extremely useful.
There are several other factors that are also worth mentioning. For example, those who have grid-tied solar power systems can supply electricity to the grid. The additional electrical power can be sold for money, of course. For this, the solar energy system only has to stay connected to the grid. In fact, there are many people who use solar energy systems in precisely this way: they generate the electricity they need to meet their needs and sell the surplus to earn some extra money on the deal. Google’s headquarters, in California, is one of the many busy cosmopolitan urban regions where this type of setup can be commonly seen.
Going into details, it is a fact that when power grids are located some distance (usually around a couple of miles) from residential locations, the economic benefits of solar energy systems are greatest. This is in light of the observation that a significant amount of money needs to be spent to install the poles and then to run power cables through the poles to the home. Having the solar energy system on the residential structure itself offers a much more cost-effective option. The raw material used here is only sunlight, which is freely available. Therefore, after installation, the question of paying high electricity bills every month does not arise, if solar energy systems are used. The government and other local bodies are also trying to encourage more and more citizens to start using solar energy. And for this to happen, they offer many incentive plans, rebates and attractive discounts.
Once you install a home solar power system, you will be able to generate electricity in a totally environmentally friendly way and you will also be able to reduce your energy bills. Excess amounts of generated power can also be easily saved, stored, or sold for money. Ideally, you should follow a training manual that has detailed discussions of how to install the system, where to do it for best results, how to complete the wiring, and also what safety precautions to follow. A guide will also let you know how to get free batteries for the system, as well as other components at relatively cheaper prices. With such information, the guide would be of great help to you in the process of installing a home solar power system.