There’s enough solar energy produced each year to power 12 million American homes. This is thanks to the 2 million commercial, residential, and utility solar installations.

If you’re considering converting to solar, the first step is understanding how is solar energy generated. This will help you understand your system’s requirements and what you can expect to get from your new solar system.

This guide will explain solar energy and how it works.

How Is Solar Energy Generated?

Power generation using solar energy harnesses sunlight and converts that energy into electricity. With home solar installation, electricity moves through an inverter and transforms into power that is at the correct voltage level for your home electricity needs.

How Do We Obtain Solar Energy?

To obtain solar energy, you need solar panels that experience exposure to sunlight. These panels have photovoltaic (PV) cells. You could have one or several.

These panels have silicone for the main body of the panel with a support frame on the outside. Each cell or panel has a positive and negative side. You’ll then mount them somewhere exposed to the sun and connect the panels together and to the rest of the system.

The sun’s photons hit the panel’s cells and knock electrons and atoms loose. When the electrons move through the circuit, electricity gets created.

The sun radiates photons outward. Those photons eventually reach earth and collect on the panels. Some panels are stationary, while others can move, so they always have the ideal angle for maximum sunlight exposure.

How Do We Collect Solar Energy?

Now that you have solar energy created, your system has direct current (DC) electricity. This isn’t useful because most electronic devices use alternating current (AC). The other problem is that the amount of energy produced is not consistent.

An inverter, transformer, and battery are what make your solar energy useable. The inverter will convert the energy from DC to AC power.

The transformer will regulate your electricity power flow. The battery will store the power produced until your system is ready to use the solar energy produced.

Usable Electricity

Once the sun’s energy is collected, converted, and stored, it’s ready for powering electric devices. Smaller systems will have a dedicated solar panel, and this electricity will get delivered directly to that specific device. Larger systems that are meant to power multiple devices will get hardwired into your home’s electrical system.

Switch to Solar Today

You should now have a basic understanding of solar and should no longer be asking, how is solar energy generated? To install a solar system in your home, you’ll need to have enough solar panels installed in a place where they will get exposed to plenty of sunlight.

Then your panels will collect sunlight, convert the energy into a useful one, and store it for future use. Your home’s electronics will then use the converted and stored electricity.

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