How Do Solar Panels Create Energy

Here s the process demystified.

How do solar panels create energy.

So how do solar panels actually generate electricity. 5 hours x 290 watts an example wattage of a premium solar panel 1 450 watts hours or roughly 1 5 kilowatt hours kwh. Along with inverting dc to ac power they also provide ground fault protection and system stats including voltage and current on ac and dc circuits energy production and maximum power point tracking. How much energy does a solar panel produce.

For the sake of example if you are getting 5 hours of direct sunlight per day in a sunny state like california you can calculate your solar panel output this way. A standard solar panel also known as a solar module consists of a layer of silicon cells a metal frame a glass casing and various wiring to allow current to flow from the silicon cells silicon atomic 14 on the periodic table is a nonmetal with conductive properties that allow it to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. Thus the output for each solar panel in your array would. Solar energy is one of the most affordable renewable energy sources available today.

In this way the solar energy system installed reduces demand for power from the utility when the solar array is generating electricity thus lowering the utility bill. Solar panels contain cells of semiconductive material usually silicon usually encased in a metallic frame and tempered glass. Eventually fossil fuels a non renewable energy source will be depleted and the world will have to turn toward renewable energy. These types of solar energy systems are also known as on grid or battery less and they make up approximately 98 percent of the solar power systems installed today.

This flow travels in a circuit of wires that connect groups of solar panels called arrays. A solar inverter takes the dc electricity from the solar array and uses that to create ac electricity. Unlike fossil fuels solar energy is an infinitely renewable energy source. To find out how solar panels work you need to understand how they re made.

Many solar panels use silicon one of the planet s most common elements. Inverters are like the brains of the system.