how solar power homes work

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Solar power systems turn sunlight into electricity. Silicon wafers capture photons from sunlight and turn them into DC power, which is then transformed into 120 volt AC power and connected to your existing electrical system — as well as the local electrical grid. When the sun shines, you can generate more power than you consume (your meter will literally spin backwards). At night you'll draw on utility company power, essentially using the electrical grid as a giant storage battery.
Typical Components of a Solar System

* Solar Cells: “Solar power cells” make up the building blocks of a solar energy system
. These solar power (photovoltaic) cells convert light energy into electricity at the atomic level.
* Solar Module: Multiple cells are usually combined into a complete “solar module” that also includes a frame for the system, electrical interconnections, and mounting hardware.
* Solar Panel: Multiple modules are assembled into a “solar panel” that is then secured to the roof or other structure.
* Inverter: An “inverter”, usually installed on the outside of your home, takes the DC output from the cells and transforms it into usable AC power.
* Electric Panel: Electricity will be sent from the inverter to your “electric panel” (or “breaker box”). Your meter will spin backward when your solar system produces more electricity than you need and will spin forward at night or on cloudy days.
* Utility Grid: The “utility grid” refers to the electricity going to/from your electric provider. When you go solar, you will send back to the grid the electricity that you produce in excess of your consumption, and use grid electricity at night or on cloudy days.

Here's how OUR solar home works; we used 1"x1"x1/8" aluminum "L"s and drilled 3/8" holes where needed to mount sets of two rough surface(low reflective loss) amorphous film unbreakable(hailstorms hit yearly) 64 watt PV panels at the average sun angle of 12/6 due south. These are hooked with 10 gauge wire into groups of two in series parallel(with separate grounding panel to panel) for 24VDC nominal for two sets of eight going to 6 gauge wire in conduit through a roof jack to a oversized 100 amp charge controller with lightning suppressor, 200 amp fuse, and connection of the ground rod. This is connected to 3 banks of 410 amp hr. 6VDC batteries hooked up in 24VDC banks going back into the controller(all 00 gauge) and out to twin TR2424 inverters with com link for 230VAC nominal to a standard home electric box (100 amp) with circuit breakers of 115VAC, and one 230VAC for the well pump. The battery compartment is vented and so is the charge controller/inverters section. The whole room is heated through the wall and insulated heavily on outside surface walls/roof. A receptacle on the side is for special generator(Generac 4000EXL) input when the sun doesn't shine for more than a few days, with the idea of keeping the batteries not lower than 80% of capacity as much as possible for maximum life. They are filled with distilled water every two months. They are equalized also, and have desulfators. They are checked with a hydrometer every four months, but all has been OK for the past 8 years. Our devices are all energy star, screens LCD, Sun Frost refrigerator (700 watt/hrs/day) and Staber washing machine(15 gal./135 W/hrs per large load). Heat is solar and propane(50 watt fan, counter flow), clothes are dried on lines outside and /or in the garage. Rainwater catchment is for the gardens in an Earthship type structure, which also has a small PV system. The car is a hybrid. One toilet is a Biolet compost toilet, and the other is low water use along with low water use shower heads. Sunny day system performance is, after inverter and line losses, around 5000 w/hrs. a day in the winter and around 8000 summer. There are 280 sunny days per year here for an average annual input of 1820KW/hrs., and our actual annual energy use is 1,460 KWhrs. The extra gets shunted away by the charge controller, and makes for faster battery bank charging after cloudy days. The banks equal 1,230 Amp/hrs (246 is 80%, and our daily use is around 33).