Solar system require a few different parts to turn sunlight into useable power. Before listing and explaining what parts are required for a solar system to capture, change, store and provide useable power from sunlight, first there needs to be an explanation of what types of solar power systems are available.
Stand alone - A stand alone solar power system is what most people commonly think of when they think of solar power. A solar system that is completely independent of the power grid, and providing power to charge a bank of batteries, and the batteries are what actually power the home.
Grid Tied - Grid tied means that you have no batteries, but solar panels still provide partial power to the home. When the system is providing power during sunlight hours, the grid power is not used at all with the use of a charge controller Instead the power provided by the solar panels takes precedence. In most states, it is common practice for the local utility companies to ‘buy back’ the power. Depending on the state, this can mean that the power the solar system creates is fed back to the power company for a credit and sometimes for an actual profit
Grid Tied w/batteries - This is probably the best configuration for most residential needs. In this type of solar system, solar panels charge up batteries. The batteries power the home. But the system is also tied into the grid so that if the power requirements of the house exceed the stored energy in the batteries, then grid power takes over and there is no break in power to the house. At night, because the solar panels are not generating energy, the grid power takes over, and if that grid power is interrupted, the batteries immediately take over the load and power isn’t interrupted.
The parts needed for a standard residentail system are:
Solar Panels. Made up of solar cells, which are composed of silicon that has dopants mixed in to transfer curreent. Now matter what size panels you have, they put out 0.5v. Solar panels are usually connected to form an array and that array will generate power as long as sunlight hits it. When sunlight hits the solar panels, they generate a DC charge that is then fed through a -
Charge Controller. The charge controller works like a valve. it allows the current from the panels to pas through to the batteries or to the house’s electrical system but doesnt allow the panels to overcharge the batteries or put too much electricity on the house’s electrical system, shorting out the home’s electric devices. Also, at night the charge controller keeps power from being discharged from the -
Here is where there is a ‘fork in the road’ for solar systems. If the unit is a stand alone or grid tied w/batteries, the charge controll feeds the
Batteries. Batteries for your average home system are usually flooded, deep cell batteries. There are other types of batteries used for solar systems, including jell batteries which are filled with an acidic gel instealed of an acid/water solution. This lowers fumes and the possibility of leakage. Another type of deep cycle battery is called an AGM (Absorbed glass mat) battery. This battery has fiberglass sheets placed between the charging plates in a battery and then the unit is filled with the gel. This almost removes the chance of spilling and fumes, however they are higher in price. After the batteries, the power is put through a dc to ac inverter to change the batteries stored energy to useable energy for the home’s AC appliances
If the unit is not grid tied w/batteries or stand alone w/batteries, then the solar panels go straight to a
DC to AC Power Inverter. 12 Volt or 24 Volt DC to AC power inverters convert DC current into conventional AC electricity which can run all kinds of household products such as: kitchen appliances, microwaves, TV’s, radios, computers and more
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