While most people recognize that solar panels transform daylight into usable electricity, not all and sundry understands the science at the back of it. Thus, if you’ve got ever wondered, “How does photo voltaic power work, step by step?”, we are going to tell you the truth in this article.
What Is Solar Energy
Solar energy is the solar radiation emitted from the Sun, and the Earth receives enough of that renewable solar energy on a diurnal base to give electricity to not just every home in the United States, but every home on the planet. That’s one important renewable solar energy source!
Humans have cooked several ways to capture solar energy, the most common being the use of photovoltaic( PV) solar panels that convert the sun’s shafts into usable electricity.
As a leader in the clean energy transition, Palmetto believes that solar energy can and should play a big part in that movement down from fossil energies and traditional power plants.
How Is Solar Energy Produced
How does solar energy work if the Sun first has to create massive quantities of energy that solar panels can also capture and convert into electricity? Like other stars in our solar system, the Sun is basically a giant nuclear reactor. Within its molten, 27 million-degree Fahrenheit core, nuclear emulsion combines (really more like “smashes together”) hydrogen atoms (H) to form helium molecules (He), creating positrons, neutrinos, and a whole lot of energy in the process.
The process of generating electricity from solar energy starts with nuclear emulsion in the Sun’s core, which radiates out through the external layers of the Sun, and across our solar system in the form of light and heat. This light and heat from the Sun cover the entire electromagnetic diapason, from veritably high- energy X-rays all the way to ultra-long-wave length radio swells. Though electromagnetic radiation comes in numerous different forms, 99 of the shafts from the Sun reach us as the visible sun, ultraviolet shafts, and infrared rays.
While the solar energy produced by nuclear emulsion within the Sun takes thousands of years to reach the Sun’s surface, it only takes8.5 minutes to travel from the surface of the Sun to the surface of the Earth, reaching us as sunlight, heat, and other forms of radiation.
How Does Solar Energy Work Step By Step
Step 1: Solar Panels Capture Solar Energy
Solar panels convert solar energy from sunlight into electrical energy for your home. The most common solar panels are made from one of three semiconductors monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, or thin-film solar cells.
When sunlight hits the thin layer of semi-conductive material, it triggers the release of electrons from silicon tittles. The negatively charged electrons are also attracted to the appreciatively charged side of the cell. This “ photovoltaic effect ” forms as a result of the free-flowing electrons within the solar panel. The moving electrons produce an electric current which is also exercised by the wiring connected to the solar panels to produce electricity.
The more sunlight that reaches the solar panels, the more solar energy they induce. During peak sun hours, the panels in your solar array admit the outside attention of the sun, which means they can convert sunlight to induce the maximum quantum of electricity during this period.
Step 2: Solar Inverters Convert DC to AC
The direct present-day (DC) electricity created via the panels is then connected by using an electrical cable to a Solar Inverter which is typically hooked up somewhere near the switchboard. Regular appliances in a home or business use alternating modern (AC) electricity, so the solar inverter’s job is to convert the DC strength to AC energy. There are many types and manufacturers of inverters and they want to be designed to meet the size of the solar panel array.
Step 3: Electrical Panel Distributes Electricity
The now converted AC electricity is also connected to the switchboard so it can be used as a power source. However, also the house will prioritize first the use of cheap solar energy and if there’s any additional energy needed also that can seamlessly continue to be drawn from the grid, if the home also has a connection to the grid. However, also the surplus can be ‘exported’ back to the grid for use away on the network if the solar system is generating more than sufficient energy.
Solar batteries can be connected via the Switchboard or via a ‘ battery-compatible ’ cold-blooded inverter – see the section below on batteries.
Step 4: Electric Meter Records Consumption and Production
Once solar is hooked up the accountable retailer is required to substitute the cutting-edge meter with a bi-direction meter. The meter can then record all the power that is drawn to the house, but additionally record the amount of photo voltaic electricity that is exported and returned to the grid. Often there is a small cost for the family to pay to change over this meter. The recorded electrical energy that is exported and returned to the grid can earn a “feed-in tariff”.
Step 5: Batteries Store Excess Energy
The Distributed Network Service Provider( DNSP) is the company who owns and operates the grid( poles and wires) in your original area. A portion of your solar energy costs is paid to the DNSP as a donation to the conservation and functional costs of the network – though for domestic customers this isn’t visible and is whisked into your electricity retailer bills. Each DNSP has slightly different rules on how much solar can be installed and whether you’re permitted to export solar energy back to the grid or not.