How Solar Energy Works

Use of solar energy helps you hedge against rising energy costs

Photovoltaic solar energy is the conversion of sunlight into electricity through a solar system.This electricity can be consumed instantly in the same place where its produced, sold back to the utility grid, or may be stored in batteries for later use. Here is how solar energy is converted to produce electricity:

•Solar cells or photovoltaic cells are often silicon-based pieces of material that absorb the sun’s light.Not warmth, as in the thermal application.
•Many of these solar cells are often combined in solar panels.
•Numbers of solar panels can be combined and interlinked for greater power.Solar energy excites the electrons in the solar cell and electricity is produced.
•This electricity is in the form of direct current or DC.DC current is however not useable for most common purposes.
•Next DC power is transformed through an inverter to alternating current, or AC.A small amount of solar energy is lost in this DC to AC conversion but is now ready for use
•You may be connected to the regular power grid,while using solar power.
•It may be possible to feed any excess energy to batteries to hold,or feed the excess back to the grid.In this way you may become a green contributor to a public utility.