Solar Power Home

Consider the sun as being a giant star in our solar system. It provides heat, light and ultimately life to our planet. Every day, as the sun’s heat washes over Planet Earth providing a form of solar power. In order to make use of this free and infinte resource, we must first understand What is residential solar power and how does it work?

Residential Solar Power Basics

The energy given off by the sun is a form of radiation. Planet Earth and other planets get the benefit of this life-giving UVA or UVB radiation. Put another way, the benevolent sun is showering the earth with its warmth and light.

A lot of the sun’s rays bounce back into space, but enough of is absorbed by the earth for us to fuel every home across the planet. Unfortunately, our created reality is not a match for our imagination. So we have a well understood concept, but it is a concept that we are a long way from manifesting.

Have you noticed how many more solar panels you can see on rooftops and in people’s gardens and back yards? They all look a lot better these days. No longer do we live in a time when only the rich could afford solar power for homes.

I’m about to get technical with you now. Don’t worry. I’ll go slowly!

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand how residential solar power works.

The Scientific Explanation of Residential Solar Power

Solar panels are made up of a grouping of photovoltaic solar cells. These cells are almost always made of silicon or some other semi-conductive material. They are then arranged uniformly,positive to negative, end to end, to create the solar panel device.

For best effect, place the panel to the south of the building to capture the maximum amount of sunlight. When the sunlight strikes the solar panel, the radiation is absorbed into the solar cell as heat.

Scientifically, the light energy (aka ‘photons’) strikes the solar cells forcing electrons to be knocked loose.

Now that they are freed up, they rush to the other end of the array and in their motion, the selfsame electricity you use to power your appliances in your home is made.

We’re not finished yet though. The electricity is still in a Direct Current (DC) format. Traditional homes require Alternating Current (AC), so some more work needs to be done to make this a useful exercise.

Now, the residential solar power system starts to do its thing. The electrical energy from the solar panel or photovoltaic array is sent to a DC disconnect device. This interrupts and changes the flow of electricity from the array.

At this point you have the choice to use one of two methods to direct the electricity around your home. Should you choose to directly connect your residential solar power system to your homes electricity system, you will then need to pass the electricity through an inverter. This will transform your DC current into AC current for use around the house.

You are almost ready to use the electricity. It passes through the inverter to be used by your AC outlets in your home.

The other option is to invest in a few deep cycle batteries and direct all that extra solar energy you don’t use in the day into them so they can store it for a later time when you might need it more.

To Conclude …

Using residential solar power will reduce your domestic utility bills. When you do introduce your solar power system you will know that you are ahead of the curve, foreseeing the future that, without doubt, will be crying out for alternative energy sources that are renewable and sustainable.