Go Solar Power For Homes

(This article follows on from the article entitled, How To Install Solar Power For Homes)

OK. So I want to install solar power for homes. I’ve followed your instructions and now I’ve got myself 20 x 250 watt photovoltaic solar panels, but how does it all work after that?

Well, in order to install solar power for homes, I hope you don’t suffer from vertigo, because you next have to get up onto the roof. Your lovely new panels need to be secured to your roof on a rail mounting system. This should come that with the panels when you buy them. If not, you need to buy this separately. If you have a sloping roof you can either flush mount the panels or have them tilted up to fit.

A word of warning here. Either have an expert fit your panels or be sure to follow the directions carefully. Be especially careful to ensure everything is sealed. While the panels will protect your roofing, fitting them badly can cause leaks when it rains. If you’re not careful, roof leaks can go unnoticed for some time, causing more extensive damage.

If you want to run your solar power for homes completely off grid, you will also need a bank of batteries. Thereby, your solar power for homes would run from solar cells to battery bank to power inverter. If not, then you will be adding solar power for homes to your traditional power use. Off grid, you will need to store enough energy in your batteries in the daytime to power your house at night (when there’s no sunlight running things). Bare in mind that night time traditionally is the time when people like to do things like have hot baths, run washing machines and so forth, so be sure your calculations when planning the installaion of solar power for homes incorporates these extra power demands.

Now, let’s talk about the power inverter. This is an essential bit of kit when introducing solar power for homes. Costing roughly $2000, the average inverter has a 15 year lifespan or thereabouts. The power inverter converts the solar energy and the stored energy in your batteries (if needed) into energy your home can use.

When everything is all connected up right, the solar power comes back to us as direct current (also known as DC). Whether it is fed into a battery for storage or goes straight into use, it will originate as DC electricity. Household appliances require alternative current (also known as AC). So we need something to take the DC power and it turn it into AC power. That is what the power inverter does.

You really should get a qualified electrician to work with you to make everything safe at this point. What we need to do is to run the power from your inverter into your electrical service panel or breaker box. From there, the power can be distributed around your home where it is needed. If you choose to run both grid power and solar power in conjunction, I would add a second box beside your service panel representing your solar panel feed. That way you can switch this feed on or off when needed.

In the day time, if the sun is shining brightly and your energy use is low, if you are not using an off-grid battery storage system, you can feed any excess energy that’s not needed as solar power for homes back to the power company. Many people love the thrill of watching their mater running backwards. This counts as credit against your final bill, but be aware that you will not be able to gain so much credit that the power company owes you money.

Your energy company will buy your power back off you at the rate you buy it from them, but they will pay you up until your net energy bill is at zero. After that, they will continue to take power from you but will not pay you, so don’t go building your solar power for homes system larger than you need, banking on making money in this way! There will always be some charges from the power company, normally amounting to about $10/month, for things like reading your meter and maintaining the grid.

From Sam Deane,
your solar power for homes guide,
at www dot go solar power for homes dot com.

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Info via:  ehow.com and solarpowerprojects.blogspot.com Pic via: iStockPhoto
The Trackback, http://www.gosolarpowerforhomes.com/solar-power-for-homes/how-to-install-solar-power-for-homes-part-2 by Sam Deane, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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