Solar electricity: home PV - Photovoltaic

Solar PV (Photovoltaic) systems produce electricity from sunlight.

This page is about PV (Photovoltaic) solar systems.

See, for thermal uses of solar:

Solar water heating systems
Solar home space heating
Solar home space cooling

PV modules

Solar modules are the core of any Solar PV system, and are based on solar (photovoltaic) cells, which are made of special materials called semiconductors, usually silicon.

For details on PV modules technology, see: PV Solar modules

PV Solar Modules: the sizing problem

Solar modules collect the sun's energy and convert it into electricity. The number of modules (connected to form a rooftop array) will depend on your needs, climate and on the modules wattage.

See: Sizing solar electric systems: the number of PV Modules

PV home and non-home uses

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are used to produce electricity for residential use and also in calculators, watches, parking meters, and Vans, Boats and Recreational Vehicles...

See: PV for Vans, Boats and Recreational Vehicles

PV on-grid and stand-alone systems

Most PV solar systems are on-grid systems. See, for details: On-grid Solar and wind systems.

A stand alone PV energy system is not connected to a wider public or private grid. In this case it responds only to the needs of its owner. The stand alone systems is typicallu more expensive due to the required set of batteries for storing the energy.

Stand-alone PV solutions are popular in remote areas, where the connection to electric grids is expensive or impossible.

See: Stand-alone Wind and Solar systems.

PV systems in non-sunny climates

Sun resources are very important. Solar electricity depends mainly on sunlight (and not on temperatures): your electric power production will depend on the number of hours of sunlight (and on the number of watts of the panel) in your site.

See, for more information:

Sizing a PV solar system (the number of modules)
Solar Resources and electricity production.

PV solar components

There are five basic components in any residential PV solar system: a solar array (a set of solar modules), an inverter, batteries, the in-home solar power monitor and the electric meter.

PV (Photovoltaic) Inverter

The inverter converts the electricity generated by the PV solar modules to alternating current (AC) ready to be used by consumers.

PV Photovoltaic Monitor and Electric Meter

The PV Monitor allows to view the status of the installed system and its performance. The Electric Meter displays power usage.

Batteries on Stand Alone Photovoltaic

A stand-alone PV system demands a storage system, to draw power from that back-up system at night and during the cloudy weather, contrarily to grid-tied systems which draw power from the grid during the night and cloudy periods and feed excessive power into the grid during the sunny hours.

See: On-Grid Systems and Net Metering

PV manufacturers

There are many PV manufacturers. Sharp Solar is the major manufacturer, but there are many other, most of them well known corporations: BP Solar, Photowatt, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Kyocera...

See: Solar Power Systems Manufacturers