Your Own Residential Solar Power
March 19, 2008
Residential Solar Power for your Home:
Residential solar power allows the homeowners to generate their own electricity at their homes. The design includes interconnecting with the existing utility service. It takes the form of solar modules or plug-and play wiring or power electronics using patented mounting kits. The residential solar power works through solar cells that are mounted in the module on the roof and which help in converting sunlight directly into DC power.
Using a device known as an inverter, DC power is then converted into AC power which may be used in the home and the system is interconnected with the utility and in case the residential solar power system produces more electricity than the home is using, the utility may allow for net metering or credit to your account for the excess of power that has been generated and which was returned to the grid. There are also residential solar power systems that come with battery backup and some of the power generated during the day is used for charging these batteries, which in turn provide power in the event of power outages.
You only need plenty of sunshine
Residential solar power systems are fine for most homes and are engineered to work with most roofing materials and all that is required is plenty of sunshine. A sunny place having approximately 120 square meters should suffice for small systems while for larger systems one may need 1,000 square meters and a south-facing roof area is ideal though solar heating panels may also be mounted in other directions and would in any case produce as much as ninety percent of power as compared to the south-facing systems. The number of solar panels used will largely depend on the average electrical usage, climate, angle of the roof, as well as shading problems and to calculate the array size of solar panels one should multiply average daily electrical demand in kilowatt hours by 0.25.
Tough and More life
A residential solar power system that has no moving parts and which is made of inert materials and is tough would last for many years without any problem. Of course batteries may require to be replaced every five to ten years. The residential solar power system has a meter that tells the homeowner how much electricity is being generated and used and when the power is sent back to the utility grid and is useful in managing the household usage adequately.
Integrated System for home and business
Residential solar power systems can be integrated into the home or business in three different types. These are utility-tie, utility-interactive as well as stand-alone systems. This type of residential solar power system would slow, stop or reverse the utility meter. It shall depend on what time of the day it is as well as the present load and size of the solar systems installed. The utility-interactive system does have a battery as well as additional controls and able to both feed into the utility meter to slow or even reverse in case of excess power as well as providing backup during power outages.
Summary:
Residential solar power allows the homeowners to generate their own electricity at their homes. The design includes interconnecting with the existing utility service. The system is interconnected with the utility. If system produces more electricity than the home is using, the utility may allow for net metering or credit to your account. Residential solar power systems are fine for most homes and are engineered to work with most roofing materials and all that is required is plenty of sunshine. A residential solar power system that has no moving parts and which is made of inert materials and is tough would last for many years without any problem.
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