Solar Rooftop for Home and Office
What is Solar Energy ?
Sunlight is the light and energy that
comes from the Sun.
What we experience as sunlight is actually solar radiation, which makes the production of solar
electricity through Solar
Energy Panels and Solar
Water Heating (Solar Thermal) to heat water for bathing and
washing purpose. Solar energy is considered as a serious source of energy
for many years because of the vast amounts of energy that is made freely
available. SOLAR is the Latin word used for SUN. The
intensity of sunlight can be measured using sunshine
recorder or pyranometer.
Solar Power has been using for thousands of
years in many different ways by people all over the world. Without sunlight,
there could be no life on Earth. As it is cheaper to make electricity from sunlight than
from coal or oil. We have adopted
this to generate electricity.
The Rooftop Solar System
Tracking systems can be used to move the panels throughout the day in order to keep them facing the sun. The longer they are aligned with the sun, the more energy they can produce. However, moving solar panels may not be the most practical choice for many homes and businesses. And it adds little more cost to the present investment. It depends on the different states and countries. In India, in south states, we don’t need this tracking system, because we can produce maximum electricity with basic rooftop system.
In some of the states in India, started adopting rooftop systems and getting benefited, by saving from utility bills. If you have excess, you can sell too.
Solar
Inverter
Solar panels generate DC electricity which needs to be
converted to alternating current (AC) electricity for use in our homes and
businesses. This is the role of the solar inverter.
AC electricity from the inverter is sent to the switchboard, where it is directed to the various circuits and
appliances in your house that require electricity. Any excess electricity
generated by the solar system can be sent to either a battery storage system if
you have a off-grid or hybrid system, or to the electricity grid if you have an
on-grid system.
On-Grid
System
If our home system is generating more electricity than we
need, that excess electricity will be sent back to grid. When we fall short of
electricity for home needs, we will get that power from grid. When the solar array is generating electricity –
thus lowering the utility bill. These grid-tied systems automatically shut
off if utility power goes offline, protecting workers from power being back fed
into the grid during an outage. These types of solar-powered electric
systems are known as “on grid” or “battery-less” and make up approximately
98% of the solar power systems being installed today.
With Net Metering,
home owners are credited for the energy that their solar panels generate at the
same rate that they would pay to their utility.
Off-Grid System
An off-grid system is not connected to the electricity grid and therefore requires battery storage. This system must be designed appropriately, so that it will generate enough power throughout the year and have enough battery capacity to meet the home’s requirements, even in the depths of winter when there is less sunlight. The high cost of batteries and inverters means off-grid systems are much more expensive than on-grid systems and so are usually only needed in more remote
areas that are far from any electricity grid. Once solar power is used by the appliances in your property, any
excess power will be sent to your battery
. Once the battery storage is full, it will stop receiving power from the solar
system. When your solar system is not
working (night time or cloudy days), you can use power from the batteries.
Hybrid System
Modern hybrid systems combine solar and battery storage in one and are now available in many different forms and configurations. In simple, it’s a combination of on-grid and off-grid systems.
- The battery bank -In hybrid system once solar power is used by the appliances in your property, any excess power will be sent to your battery bank. Once the battery bank is full, it will stop receiving power from the solar system.
- The meter and electricity grid - Depending on how your hybrid system is set up and whether your utility allows it, once your batteries are fully charged excess solar power not required by your appliances can be exported to the grid via your meter. When your solar system is not in use, and if you have drained the usable power in your batteries your appliances, will then start drawing power from the grid.
Choosing off-grid or hybrid?
You can choose either of these two, based on your household consumption and battery storage capacity, available in the market.In Off-grid - based on your consumption of electricity, for your appliances in the day time, and on how much you can still save by picking the right battery capacity. Usually only needed in more remote areas that are far from any electricity grid.
Hybrid - if you are generating more than your needs, you can sell
some units and get credited, by choosing hybrid.
As I mentioned above hybrid is a combination of on-grid and off-grid.
Solar Energy Benefits
This way you will be saving yourself and the globe by not falling as prey of global warming and future generations as well, by producing your own clean solar energy. Every solar power system we own reduces the consumption of fossil fuels needed to generate electricity, which in turn reduces the pollutants contributing to global warming. Solar power is an environmentally-friendly decision that saves on your electricity bill, reduces the need for constructing additional generating solar power plants, and makes you proud, that you are significantly benefiting the environment. Renewable solar energy also contributes to reducing our country’s dependence on foreign fuel, making solar power the responsible citizen’s choice.I will come up with the cost of installation, maintenance of solar rooftops and different schemes by the government, on solar rooftop in the coming posts.
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