Solar Power Systems: The basics (Page 1 of 3)

You need to find out about solar power systems before you can decide if they are something that you want to invest your money in. Rather than just going for the latest trend, you want to do your research, and see how you can best benefit from the technology. Besides, when you have your solar power system, you want to be able to explain to your friends how it works! This article is for you.

There are some different options to finding the right solar power system for your house, but they all tend to use the same components. First, you have to understand that your house functions on AC (alternating current) electricity, but batteries and solar panels produce DC (direct current) electricity. This means that you can’t just connect the solar panels or any batteries to your house wiring, it just wouldn’t work and would be dangerous.

The fundamental element to make the DC electricity that you have into the AC electricity that you want is called an inverter. These are available in various sizes, depending how much electricity they have to deal with. You will have to use one that is approved for the function, if you are keeping a connection to the utility – you see, alternating current alternates the electricity flow, and when you produce your own AC, and connect to the utility grid, you have to be sure that the alternating is in time, or synchronized, from both sources. It would be dangerous if it wasn’t, and could cause all sorts of problems.