Solar Energy Panels Work

When you go solar you effectively install a mini power plant on your roof to replace the power plant where your utility gets its electricity.

Solar energy panels work. Photovoltaic pv cells are the powerhouse unit of the entire solar energy industry. This is how excess electricity is stored and it is how a home that may not be 100 powered by solar panels maintains power. Solar panels actually comprise many smaller units. Arrays of a photovoltaic system supply solar electricity to electrical equipment.

Animation created by signalfly www. The most common application of solar energy collection outside agriculture i. That means homeowners with high electricity rates from their utility are the ones who save the most when they switch to home solar power. Simply put a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms generating a flow of electricity.

It releases tiny packets of energy called photons which travel the 93 million miles from the sun to earth in about 8 5 minutes. A collection of pv modules is called a pv panel and a system of panels is an array. A pv module is an assembly of photo voltaic cells mounted in a framework for installation. Every array is made up of several solar panels and every solar panel is made up of several solar cells.

Solar energy works by capturing the sun s energy and turning it into electricity for your home or business. Solar panels work by absorbing sunlight with photovoltaic cells generating direct current dc energy and then converting it to usable alternating current ac energy with the help of inverter technology. Our sun is a natural nuclear reactor. In fact the term photovoltaic literally means light and electric these cells are designed from materials capable of reacting with a photovoltaic effect simply put the sun ray excites the electrons in the photovoltaic cell.

It s an idea that has been around for well over a century. Ac energy then flows through the home s electrical panel and is distributed accordingly. A simple and easy to understand animation which explains how solar panels work. The term solar panel is used colloquially for a photo voltaic module.

Every time photons hit the silicon they transfer energy to loose silicon electrons. Solar cells are made of silicon. Those cells do the daily work of converting the sun s photons into electricity. When solar panels produce electricity it flows into the grid and the production is monitored and credited to a homeowner s account this is when your meter will roll backward.

Video is sponsored by best energy power.