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Solar electric systems for homes consist of a series of solar panels wired together, which are installed on the roof or on the ground using various racking systems.
A typical home will use about 10 to 20 solar panels to significantly reduce electrical costs. These panels are mounted facing south, which maximizes their power production.
Solar electric systems are a great way for a home to significantly reduce – or eliminate – monthly utility bills. These systems qualify for a number of incentives, such as the 30% Federal Tax Credit.
There are a number of other incentives that allow you to offset the initial cost of a system, or to even generate income every month because of the power you produce.
Solar electric systems use solar panels known as Photovoltaic Modules – or “PV” for short – to convert sunlight into electricity. A solar pv system is usually made up of a number of these solar PV panels, wired together to provide electricity.
Solar PV systems can be configured in two different ways. One method – which is also the most popular – is the “on-grid” system. This means that the electricity your solar PV system generates feeds your existing power grid.
When the PV system generates more power than you are consuming, it spins your electric meter backwards, usually generating a credit or other income via the electrical company. At night, or during stormy weather, you would pull from the power grid for your electrical needs.
Another method is a standalone system, or an “Off-Grid” system. This simply means that the solar PV system does not have a connection to the power grid.
These types of systems are used in remote or isolated locations that do not have access to an electrical power company's grid.
These systems consist of a few more components as a grid-tie system, such as batteries for storage.
Generally, these systems are much larger, and can be more expensive because the system must produce enough power to meet the electrical demand during the day, while producing enough excess power to charge batteries to supply power at night or during bad weather.
Solar Panels Plus offers complete solar photovoltaic (PV) packages that have been sized and optimized for various residential applications. These packages include all the major components needed for a fast, simple, professional installation to help you start generating your own power today – all at a great price.
Each package contains a series of PV panels, sized and engineered to produce power for decades. The number of PV panels contained in each package will vary, and will depend on how much power you want to generate. Most packages will have anywhere from 5 to 20 solar PV panels.
All modules in our packages are A-Grade, and certified to UL standards. Our modules come backed by a 25 year warranty. American, BAA compliant modules are also available.
Most of our residential PV packages feature our state of the art Solar AC Modules. With these AC Modules, there is no need for a separate string inverter, as the inverter is built into the module. These modules are usually the best solution for residential applications, as it reduces the number of components in the system, and greatly reduces the amount of time involved in the installation.
More information on our Solar AC PV Modules.
In packages using a string inverter, the inverter is sized to match the number of modules included in the package. Most string inverters included are Made in America, and come backed by a 10-year warranty.
In residential packages, the racking is already sized to fit a variety of applications – roof mount, pole mount, ground mount, and other options are available.
Each package system can also be customized to fit your specific application, ensuring you get the perfect fit for your home.
10. What is a PV panel?
A PV solar panel, referred to in the industry as a solar module, is constructed by connecting photovoltaic cells (or PV cells) to produce electricity. The cells are a semiconductor-based technology that converts solar radiation into direct current (DC) electricity. Solar panels for grid-connected home or business use typically use 60 or 72 PV cells.
17. What are the benefits of using PV solar systems?
By utilizing PV solar cells, home or business owners are able to generate electricity from sunlight saving money and avoiding the harmful pollution generated by traditional methods of generating electricity. This solar generated energy is used to offset or replace power that would normally be purchased from the utility.
18. What is a grid-tied solar system?
98% of PV solar panels installed in the USA are grid-tied systems, meaning that the system is tied to the power grid (local electric power utility company). The solar power is added to the grid power, reducing the amount of power that must be purchased from the utility.
19. What is an off-grid solar system?
An off-grid solar energy system is where there is no connection to the utility company power grid. This type of installation requires a charge-controller, a bank of batteries and in most cases an inverter, so that electric power requirements can be met at night or during cloudy conditions.
20. How much roof space does a PV system need?
A typical solar panel of 200Wp will measure about 17 square feet. Depending on installation factors, the required square footage of roof space will be somewhat larger than simply the area of the panels. Based on your information, once our engineering department has determined the required angle, shading factors, etc. we can give you a more accurate number.
21. How long will a solar panel system last?
Solar panels are known to last 40 years or longer. Typical guarantees of a solar panel include five years workmanship and materials warranty and a 20-25 year performance warranty. The typical PV panel performance warranty will guarantee 90% of rated production for 10-15 years, and 80% for 20-25 years. Solar panels are designed to withstand hail, severe wind and weather conditions assuming proper installation.
30. What are the different types of PV panels?
There are currently four main types of solar PV panels:
Monocyrstalline - these are made from cells created by cutting thin slices from single crystal silicon block and are higher in efficiency, but also higher in cost per watt. They are easy to spot because they have a smooth even color, usually black.
Polycrystalline – these are made from cells created by cutting thin slices from polycrystal silicon block and are slightly lower in efficiency, but also lower in cost per watt. Polycyrstal silicon is the “chicken nugget” of silicon, made by combining many individual crystals. They are easy to spot because they have an uneven color, usually blue.
Multicrystalline – a different term for polycrystalline.
Thin film – these are made by depositing a thin layer of very finely powdered silicon (amorphous silicon) or other photovoltaic material, on a substrate. These are much lower in efficiency that crystalline cells, and somewhat cheaper per watt. They are a good choice for large ground mounted utility scale solar arrays where real estate is plentiful. Their low efficiency makes them undesirable for commercial and residential applications because they consume a large amount of roof space compared to mono or poly panels.
31. How do I decide how large my PV solar system should be?
Typically the best return on investment is when you target the average power in watts used during the month with the lowest electric bill. Most net metering programs do not let you carry forward a credit, meaning that when you produce more solar electricity than your total consumption, it is wasted. Actually it is not wasted, it is just given free to the power company who will sell it to someone else
32. How are solar panels tested and rated?
PV panels installed in the USA must be tested to UL 1703 standard and in California, also to IEC 61730. They can be tested and certified by any NRTL (nationally recognized testing laboratory) like UL, CSA, ETL, TUV etc. For consumer purposes, the main rating to consider is the watts rating, which is expressed at watts-peak (Wp) which is the amount of peak power produced under STC (standard test conditions).
33. How much power will a solar PV system produce?
You would calculate the total production of a system by determining the annual production of a single panel and multiplying it by the number of panels, then reduce this value to account for inefficiencies. A professional approach would be to use a calculator like PVWatts or RetScreen. This approach will consider the NASA data for insolation at the location, the expected weather and temperature conditions, the orientation (angle and azimuth) of the installation and other factors.
Each system will produce a different amount of power based on the system size, orientation, insolation, etc. A quick look at our solar insolation map will give you an idea of average annual sunlight conditions for your area. A quick, free telephone or email consultation with our sales team will help you be able make a good estimate of your potential. Just give us a call.
