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Solar Panels are a great way to offset energy costs, reduce the environmental impact of your home and provide a host of other benefits, such as supporting local businesses and contributing to energy independence.



1. Reduce or eliminate energy bills.

This one is pretty amazing. We live in Washington, D.C., which has an average amount of sun, but it’s enough to power our house of three kids and two adults at net zero energy consumption. On warm spring days, we generate a lot more than we consume, and then we trade that with the utility. On hot summer days, when we run the air conditioning, or on cloudy days, we draw from the grid.

Even if you live somewhere cloudy, such locations typically receive more than two hours of sunlight per day, while sunny locations receive an average of 5.5 hours of sunlight per day.

Although sunny days will produce more solar energy, Monocrystalline Panels will continue to draw energy even when the weather is cloudy. Indirect, or diffused, sunlight will still help to power your home. Cloudy days usually produce around 10 to 20 percent of the power generated on sunny days.



2. Earn tax credits and rebates.

I didn’t realize how big of a benefit this one would be, but our solar panels are actually paying us. To start, you will get 30 percent of total system costs back from equipment and installation as a federal income tax credit when you file your taxes. This means you would save $7,500 on a solar system worth $25,000.

The investment has a payback period of only 3.5 years, while the Polycrystalline Panels have a warranty of 10 years and useful life of 25 years—which means you generate free electricity and extra credits for 20+ years. It's hard to beat. It's both socially responsible and economically profitable.

Many installers also offer a no-cost installation, where they front all of the money for the panels and installation and charge for electricity at a reduced rate. They are basically “leasing” your roof space and giving you a discount on the electricity in return. This is a good option for homeowners who do not want to make the initial investment or would prefer a no-money-down option. The installer collects all the proceeds from the SRECs in this case.

No matter where you live, you most likely have some amazing tax credits for solar. Take advantage of them while you still can.



A solar power inverter is critical to a solar panel system. Without it, the system can’t generate electricity.



Solar panels are usually made from silicon, which provides a semi-conductor surface. The panels sit within a metal frame encased in glass. When particles of light – photons – hit the silicon of each individual solar panel, electrons become agitated. This creates a photovoltaic (PV) charge, which in turn produces an electrical direct current (DC). The panel’s wiring captures this current, and it's the Solar Inverter that converts the DC to an alternating current (AC). Solar inverters connect the solar panel system to the existing electrical meter, or it feeds the power to the electrical grid.



How does a solar inverter work?

Direct current flows in one direction. Appliances at home run on AC, so conversion has to happen. The solar panel inverter accomplishes this over four steps.



When comparing quotes for different Energy Storage Systems, it can be difficult to determine which characteristics and technical specifications matter most and with good reason: the home energy storage industry is so new that you probably don’t know anybody with a battery who you can ask about their experience. While every battery has to meet certain reliability and safety requirements in order to be sold and installed in the US, outside of those standards there is very little standardization of specs and characteristics across the batteries available on the market today. We’ve provided some tips on what to look for when comparing different battery quotes.





What to look for in a home solar battery: six measurements to consider

A Solar Storage Battery stores electricity for later use, so you can keep appliances running during a power outage, use more of the solar energy you produce at your home, and even save money on electricity in some cases. They are often referred to as "deep cycle batteries", due to their ability to charge and discharge a significant amount of electricity compared to something like a car battery.



How to decide which battery specs matter for your needs



There are a number of different potential decision criteria and comparison points to make when evaluating your energy storage options. Here are a few of the most common decision criteria, as well as which battery specs matter most if these criteria match your situation:

• If you want to power more of your home at once, look for a Residential Wall Battery with a high power rating
  
  
• If you want to be able to power a more energy-intensive appliance (like a sump pump), look for a battery with a high instantaneous power rating
  
  
• If you want to run your home with your solar battery for a longer amount of time, look for a battery with a higher usable capacity
  
  
• If you want to get the most out of every kilowatt-hour of electricity you put into your battery, look for batteries with a higher roundtrip efficiency
  
  
• If you are space constrained and want to get the most amount of storage out of the least amount of space, look for lithium-ion nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) solar batteries
  
  
• If you want a battery with the longest lifetime that you can cycle the most amount of times, look for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries
  
  
• If you want a battery with the absolute highest safety rating possible (don’t worry, they’re all safe!), look to LFP solar batteries
  

Solar power is harnessed using Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology that converts sunlight (Solar radiation) into electricity by using semiconductors. When the sun hits the semiconductor within the PV cell, electrons are freed and bus bars collect the running electrons which result in electric current. When we place Solar panels connected in a calculated manner in the sunlight, they start producing current and voltage in the form of Direct current (DC) but in most of the countries in the world appliances and equipment runs on Alternative current (AC) so we need to connect to all Solar panels to an inverter which then converts DC into AC for home use.



1:On-grid Solar Power System / Grid interactive System

> This type of Solar Energy System is used when you want to reduce your electricity bill > In this type of system you will save the per unit amount multiplied by units generated by Solar system (known as net metering, involves govt. approvals) > When your house’s electricity consumption is low and solar generation is high your Solar system will feed the excess energy into the grid/electricity company. > When your electricity consumption is high and solar generation is low your Solar system will take the excess energy from the grid/electricity company and feed into your home.



2: Off-grid Solar Power System / Standalone System

> Off-grid Solar System is used when electricity/grid is not present or someone required backup to safeguard against power cuts. Also, in some cases, if someone wants to generate his own green energy! (No govt. involvement is required in this case) > This is a battery based system, so energy generated from the solar panel is stored in the batteries which are connected with this system > You can operate some of essential equipment/appliances directly on this system at the time of grid unavailability of no sunlight hours as well.



3: Hybrid Solar Power System

> Hybrid Solar System is the combination of off-grid and on-grid solar system. > If the electricity consumption of your house is lower than the energy generated from the Solar system, excess energy will get stored in batteries connected with this system. > If the house electricity consumption is greater than Solar energy generation excess requirement will be catered through batteries. >If the house electricity consumption is lower than the energy generated through Solar panels and batteries are fully charged than the excess energy generated goes into the grid/electricity dept.