Homes Powered By Solar
Solar power for homes has truly come a very long way since the early, boxy design of solar panels that most of us have seen. Great advances have been made with respect to solar cell construction which allow a variety of building materials be made with the solar cells incorporated into the design, thus effectively making them almost undetectable.
There are two ways that solar power for homes is supplied. These are off-grid and on grid or net metering. A stand alone solar power system acts as the sole source of electricity for your home and is off the grid as such. Alternatively, supplemental solar power systems, can supply all of your homes energy depending on sunlight availability. When sunlight is not available, your home can use energy from the power grid.
The basic components to generate solar power for homes are the same whether you opt for a standalone system or a supplemental system. The key component is the photovoltaic panels, commonly known as PV cells or solar panels, these panels are lined with a semi conductor or solar cell that turns the rays of the sun into electricity. This electricity is then routed into a regulator/controller that keeps the current at the voltage/amperage level your system is designed for. The electricity is then routed either into your homes electrical system or into a battery array or storage system that will keep that solar power available when the sun goes down.
As long as your house is hooked up to the power company’s grid, you won’t need to set up a separate storage system. However, setting up your own storage is more advantageous as your monthly utility bill be reduced further and you’ll still have power even during an outage.
It is now cheaper and simpler than ever before to reduce or eliminate your need for outside electricity by using solar power for homes. Several types of building materials include awnings, roofing materials, car port roofing, and edges of window panes. This kind of solar panel is known as Building Integrated Photovoltaics. If used for roofing material, such panels provide the same measure of home protection as do asphalt shingles, even while they function as a solar panel.
One of the greatest obstacles to using solar power for homes has traditionally been the up-front expense. Now, however, there are avenues to offsetting that expense. Government grants are available which go a long way toward subsidizing your household’s conversion to solar power. Federal rebates for solar power installations can vary year from year, and each state that offers one has its own incentives ranging from additional rebates to offering low-interest rates to finance green projects.
Besides the fact that you’ll make your home greener using solar power for homes, you’ll also be seeing lots of “green” with all the savings on your utility bill. You may even be able to eliminate a utility bill altogether. A growing number of utility companies now have a metering program allowing you to sell to the power company any excess power produced by your solar power system. Selling your excess electricity to the power company is a good idea and more net metering programs will be enacted in various states in the future. An incentive to sell your electricity to the utility company benefits other people that can use the power and reduces the utility companies need on coal and other fossil fuels to generate electricity.
