Residential Solar Power
Solar Power for Homes Background

Residential solar power systems (also known as home solar power systems) are clean, durable and silent power generators based on solar panels. They are becoming more popular with the increasing awareness to clean air and global warming, the ever increasing cost of electricity and with the decreasing cost of solar electric panels as evident from year to year.

Residential Solar Power Background, Advantages and Cost

Home solar power systems are in essence small photovoltaic power plants at affordable prices. They can generate electricity in a clean and silent way. By installing a solar power system you detach yourself from the future hikes in electricity prices. I’ll give you the background on solar power generation using photovoltaic solar panels and what to consider before you decide to install a solar power system in your home.

Solar Power for Home Generation Systems

Residential photovoltaic systems are complete systems that includes the solar panels and a solar inverter. For more data on inverter types click here. To return to this point after reading on inverters' types click the browser back button.

How does a solar power generator work?

A solar power generator is in essence an energy converter. It converts Sun radiation (a stream of photons) into DC electrical power (a stream of electrons). The solar generator main component is the solar electric panels array.

Solar Power Background

Residential photovoltaic generation is the younger brother in the family. The older brother is water heating, a conversion of sun radiation into heated water

As the younger brother, the technology is still evolving to the direction of better efficiency and lower cost, in 2009 and 2010 we witnessed a dramatic price reduction.

As a rough estimate, the gross cost of buying and installing a residential photovoltaic (in other words using Sun Light radiation) power system is $7-$8 per watt production capacity. The lion share of the system cost is in buying and installing the solar panels. A typical home will need 2,000-4,000 watts production capacity. 30% of the investment can be claimed back in federal tax credits and with states tax credits and incentives it can reach close to 50%. View my page on energy tax credits.

For on page background reading on solar power system cost reduction trends click here. Once you read through you can return to this point by clicking on the browser back button.

Grid Tied Residential Solar Power Systems

grid tied solar power system

Home grid tied (or grid connected) solar power generating systems are small to medium size "power plants".They are connected directly to the utility grid (hence the name).

Solar Inverters Types

The type of inverter used for the on grid solar power generation system is not the same as the one that is used for the off grid residential solar power systems.(see my page on the pure sine inverter)

Solar Power Cost Reduction Trends

Bellow are the technological trends and market pressures that are bringing the cost of residential solar power down.

Better solar panels' efficiency equates to smaller area of solar electric panels, a cost reduction factor by itself. An already used technology for enterprise and utility size installation, the concentrated solar power generator can provide a cost reduction path. Scaling down efforts for home size systems (2 to 4 kW) are under way. Possibly, we'll see more in 2011/12 time frame

The advance high volume production technology of thin film solar electric panels

Volume production and lower cost materials lead the way toward future cost reductions; cheaper solar panels start to appear in the market

Increased competition push the prices of solar photovoltaic panels down

Inverters, the second major component of a solar system, become more sophisticated, like most other electronics, on the newest models you will get more features for the same money

In certain situations, a solar tracker can enhance the annual electrical production of from a given solar panels array

Off grid Residential Solar Power Systems

Off-grid solar power systems can supply electricity to homes and ranches that are far from the edge of the grid. In most cases it is highly recommended to add an off grid wind turbine to the off grid solar power plant. The wind generator complements the solar power system and resources can be shared between the two systems

Off grid solar power systems are also used in street lighting, traffic lights, remote public telephone boots and similar applications.

Turn Key Solar Power System

Your easiest approach is to ask one leading company to evaluate your site and propose to you the Solar Power System that fits your need, has a good price value, takes full advantage of tax benefits and provides you with a turn key job.

DIY Residential Solar Power

Whether you plan a grid tied solar system or an off grid solar power system, you have two more options

Bring in an experienced solar contractor
Do it yourself; you need to find a reliable store to buy the solar kit from. A good solar equipment store will configure the system, will provide installation guidance and will provide the after sale support

Even if you plan to DIY, ask a solar contractor to come to your site and give you a proposal for a turn key job

The Photovoltaic Effect

Photovoltaic solar power generation is based on the photovoltaic effect

Photovoltaic is a coined word; Photo is light (photons are the elementary light particles), Volta was an Italian scientist in the early days of electricity. The word means: "converting light photons (light particles) directly into electrical current". The solar panel output is the electrical power it produces

The History of Solar Power

The history of photovoltaic effect is interesting. It started as an accidental discovery 170 years ago and evolved into a fast growing industry. It spreads more into both utility scale power plants as well as the residential solar power segment.