There’s no denying that many households are looking for innovative ways to reduce their waste. But, more people are also researching ways to cut their home’s carbon footprint - and save money from the cost of their energy bills.
Arguably one of the best ways to achieve those goals is by opting for a solar installation. In a nutshell, this is where a house gets powered - either partly or wholly - by energy from the sun. Here’s what you need to know about solar power and going greener in your home:
The advantages of solar power
Some people assume that solar energy only makes sense for homes in mainly sunny climes such as California. However, even if you live in a rainy state like Louisiana, your family can still take advantage of the sun's virtually free energy.
When you have a solar power installation at your home, you can convert that energy into electricity. Many people with solar panel installations also use the energy to heat tanks of water, providing constant heating and hot water on demand.
One of the most significant solar power draws is that it saves homeowners a substantial sum from their energy bills. Often, homeowners will use less power than what their solar energy systems generate, and so they can "sell" that unused energy to power companies.
How to convert solar power into electricity and hot water
Solar energy arrives on the Earth’s surface as light and heat. To convert that solar energy into electricity and hot water, we need to use technology to capture it and turn it into usable power and heating.
The technology needed includes photovoltaic (PV) cells - the large black panels that you see fitted to the roofs on people’s homes. The PV cells capture the light from the sun, and that energy gets fed to other technology fitted inside your home.
PV cells get connected to components called inverters. Their job is to convert the solar (DC) energy into electricity that you can use in your home (AC). Of course, that newly converted energy needs to go somewhere as you likely won’t use it all as it gets generated.
Battery packs store the electricity created from the inverters, and your home uses that electricity when it needs it. The whole system gets managed by a charge controller device to make sure electricity gets stored and supplied correctly and safely.
Other components that form part of a solar energy installation in a home include:
- Array DC Disconnect - interrupts the supply of DC power to the inverter from the PV cells;
- Power Meter - used when solar systems get connected to the electricity grid for selling unused power.
Professional versus DIY installation: which is best?
As you can appreciate, solar energy systems involve a lot of components, particularly expensive ones. A lot of planning, wiring, and configuration needs to happen with residential solar systems.
If you're a keen DIYer, you might be wondering whether you could install such a system yourself. The truth is, it makes sense to leave such a project to professional installers. They have the experience, skills, tools, and knowledge to get the installation done right for a start.
Secondly, they provide a guarantee with both their parts and workmanship. What that means for you is they’ll put things right if you ever come across problems with your solar power system. If you did the work yourself, there is no guarantee that the work you do is correct.
You also have to remember that the warranty provided with the parts used in a solar energy system has terms attached. Usually, one of those terms is the manufacturer won’t repair or replace any parts if they’ve been fitted incorrectly.
Could you power your home solely from solar power?
Theoretically, it’s possible to become 100% self-reliant for your electricity, heating, and hot water needs. But, in practice, you may find that you’ll still need to consume some power from the grid as before.
Why? One of the reasons is down to solar power input. A typical house won't have enough roof space to install a broad array of PV cells to capture the sun's energy. You may need to install several rows of PV cells at ground level, which isn't feasible for most people.
There’s also the question of weather activity. It’s possible to generate electricity from PV cells on a cloudy day. However, the power created won’t be near enough what you’d create on a bright and sunny day.
Still, it isn't impossible to go off the grid and power your home from solar power alone despite those points.
So, when will you be incorporating solar energy into your home?
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