DAY 2: BASICS OF A SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM

                           
              DAY 2 #100DAYSOFSOLARNUGGETS
    

           

                                       

                   BASICS OF A SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM.
   Today we are going to look at generation of Solar power as a whole so that everyone has a general idea, It may seem confusing at first but in later posts we would break it down into smaller bits and expatiate further. I just want everyone to get an overall idea of what really happens 

   There are four basic building blocks of Solar Energy systems or Photovoltaic (PV) Systems (In upcoming post I would explain why it is called Photovoltaic) .

.1) Solar Panels (Photovoltaics): Generate Electric Energy

.2) Charge Controller: Control the charging of the batteries

.3) Inverter: Convers Direct Current (D.C.) TO Alternating Current (A.C.) (would explain this later)

.4) Battery: Stores Electric Energy

As I said, this are the basics that are needed, but that does not mean that this are the only things we need, because we would need wiring(Wires…lots of wires) and at least a load (appliance to consume the energy generated).

       So what really happens and how do we generate Energy.

         When The sun shines on the Solar Panels, The solar panels generate Electric Current, this Electric current the flows through the wires to the Charge controller .The Charge controller controls charging of the batteries to ensure they are not over charged(over charging kills the batteries). Batteries store the energy that would be used at Night, when the sun is no more. Then from the batteries to the Inverter. The inverter converts the Electric Energy [Direct Current (D.C.)] generated from the panels (during the day) and the batteries (during the Night) to Alternating Current (A.C.) which we use to power our house hold appliances.

Wow. I know I might have confused some of my readers, I just ask that you bear with me, follow me In due time, everything would be crystal clear.

I just want to end this post by emphasizing on this

Solar panels generate Direct current (D.C.)

Batteries Generate Direct current (D.C)

And the inverter convers Direct current To Alternating Current (A.C.), this is because most of our house hold appliances are powered by Alternating current (A.C.).
           #100daysofsolarnuggets

Please feel free to post your questions, comments and suggestions.

Solar Energy Systems : Grid Connected Systems Explained

SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS

 Grid Connected Systems Explained

Today am doing a thread on Solar Energy Systems

There are basically three types of Solar Energy systems, This is not to say that this are the only solar energy systems that exists, We have systems such as Solar Boreholes, Solar Street lights and the likes..

That being said , the three types are.

.a) Grid connected solar energy systems.

b) Off-grid solar energy systems.

.c) Backup Solar systems

Let us discuss Grid Connected Solar Systems

In layman's terms this type of solar system occurs when a building is running on solar energy and also connected to the grid (Utility Company/Energy provider).

The main source of energy for your building/house is solar energy, but you are also connected to the grid, this may be for a variety of reason...

When I mean grid, I am referring to your Utility Company or your energy provider as the case may be...

Using this solar system, you can never have a downtime (a time when there is no power in your building) Cause when there is an emergency or you need to shut down your Solar energy system for any reason whatsoever ,you simply switch over to the energy supply from the grid.

Also If you can't afford the off grid solar energy system, you can start with grid connected Solar energy system and upgrade your system later.

Reverse metering is also a feature of this solar energy system,

What is reverse Metering?????

Reverse metering occurs when you feed excess energy from your solar system into the grid and get paid for it, this is an avenue where people with grid connected solar systems can make money off the excess energy they produce.

Reverse metering occurs when you can take power from the grid and also supply power to the grid when you have excess and get paid.

Simply put, the utility company pays you because you supplied more Energy to them from your solar energy system than you took from them when you had to use the energy from the grid.

Feel free to post your suggestions or comments...