How Grid Connected Solar Panel Systems Work

All grid tied solar systems are installed with an automatic shutoff switch which turns off your solar system in a power outage.

How grid connected solar panel systems work.

When a homeowner decides to add solar panels to their home in most cases they will choose to be grid connected. Hybrid grid connected systems use lower cost hybrid battery inverters and only require a battery large enough to supply energy for 5 to 10 hours overnight depending on the application. This type of system is also known by many other names such as on grid grid connect ed grid intertied and grid direct solar systems. If a grid connect system is producing more power than the home consumes the surplus is fed into the power grid.

Using solar power alone without energy storage and just pulling from the grid will still significantly reduce your carbon footprint. That is because my grid tie solar panels are somewhat of an odd ball voltage as they are specifically designed for grid tied inverters. The downside of being connected to the grid is that if there is a blackout your solar system will not work. To start small let s talk about how the inverters get the energy in the first place.

These solar panels collect the sunlight that shines on them and. But if you re bothered by the idea of pulling power from fossil fuel plants at all another option is selecting to use only renewable energy sources from your utility company when your panels aren t producing. A grid connected photovoltaic system or grid connected pv system is an electricity generating solar pv power system that is connected to the utility grid a grid connected pv system consists of solar panels one or several inverters a power conditioning unit and grid connection equipment they range from small residential and commercial rooftop systems to large utility scale solar power stations. The solar panels that you install on your rooftop are the first step of having a successful solar grid tie inverter system.

Home solar panels and the grid. Let s learn how these solar grid tie inverters work step by step. This means that the home will get electricity both from its solar panels and the electric grid. It stops working when the sun goes down.

This power inverter converts the solar energy into energy that is consumable at home. Connect the solar panels either directly to a power inverter and then connect it to the home grid or connect the inverter to the battery and then to the home power grid. The grid connect inverter converts the dc electricity produced by the solar panels into 240v ac electricity which can then be used by the property household. Off grid solar systems require specialised off grid inverters and battery systems large enough to store energy for 2 or more days.