Solar Company Phoenix – Just the Tip of the Iceberg
It seems that lots of people are searching for information about Solar Company Phoenix Panels for Electricity. Although Solar Panels are a big piece of the puzzle, there are lots of other pieces that must be considered to complete the puzzle that is Solar PV, or formally known as Solar Photovoltaic.
Photovoltaic Solar Panels convert the suns rays to DC (Direct Current) electricity. For those that don’t know, there are two types of electricity Direct Current and Alternating Current. Without getting into technical details, lets just say that DC electricity is the type of electricity stored in batteries and used to power the electrical components of your car. AC electricity is the type of electricity used to power your home lights and appliances.
Solar Panels for Electricity
Once the Solar Company Phoenix Panels for electricity have converted the suns energy into DC current, it must either be stored in batteries or converted to AC power to use in your home.
Although battery based systems are available they are extremely expensive and not cost effective unless there is a real need. Legitimate need for battery based systems include locations with no grid tied power available as well as locations where the grid tied power is extremely unreliable. Unless you have one of the afore mentioned issues, I would strongly recommend you avoid batteries in your system.
So, if you are not going to couple batteries with your Solar Company Phoenix Panels, then how are you going to store your electricity? Well, first we need to convert the power to AC power. This is done with an inverter. The inverter is an electronic unit which converts the DC current to Ac current. It can be converted at the Solar Panels with a “Micro-Inverter” or at the electrical panel with a “Central-Inverter”. Regardless of the type of inverter, the current is converted to AC current at a cost of somewhere between 15% and 23% power loss. Once converted, the power is distributed into your home through the breaker panel.
As for power storage, you can think of the utility grid as your personal battery. When you are generating more power than you are using, the power goes to the grid and decreases your electric bill. When you are not generating enough power, you can take power back from the grid. It is important that you obtain your power from a Renewable Energy Friendly company. Not all electric companies will pay you fairly for the power you generate so it is imperative that you do your homework before signing an electricity contract if you are serious about installing a Solar PV System.
It is a common misconception that if you want to generate electricity, all you really need are Solar Panels for electricity. In reality there is a lot more required. Besides 100 watt solar panel, you will need racking, wiring, inverters, maybe batteries and charge controllers. Before spending any money for equipment I would strongly recommend that you obtain as much information as possible from someone with knowledge and experience.
