Solar Energy for the Home
Here are some basic facts about solar energy for the home.
A home solar power system has several standard components they are as follows:
* PV Modules or solar panels (to turn solar energy into electricity)
* A charge controller (this is an electrical device that prevents batteries from overcharging and from power running from the batteries into the solar panels).
* Batteries, to store the electricity for night time usage.
* An inverter (an device which changes the electricity created by the solar panels into electricity ready for use in your regular household wall sockets). Solar panels create Direct Current DC and a household runs on A/C Alternating Current.
* In the case of a hybrid home solar system, an automatic switch to get current from the electrical grid, or some other power source such as a generator would be included as well. The advantage of using a hybrid system is that you will not be dependent upon solar energy alone.
* A 1-kilowatt home solar system is sufficient for most households.
* A 1-kilowatt home solar system will provide roughly 1,600 kilowatts per year in a sunny climate (receiving 5.5 hrs of sunlight each day) and about 750 kilowatt hours per year in cloudy climates (receiving 2.5 hours of sunlight each day).
* A 1-kilowatt home solar system is uses about 10-12 solar panels, and requires about 100 square feet of installation area (which could be the roof of your home or a section of land on your property).
* A 1-kilowatt home solar energy system reduces waste and pollution by about 170 pounds. of coal from being burned, 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month! A big step toward protecting our environment, in other words.
* With battery back up, a solar energy system can provide electricity day and night, no matter what the weather conditions. Other options, which include back-up generators and grid-tie systems, provide total security.
* On average a 1-kilowatt home solar system takes about 1-2 days to install and costs around US$10,000 (though prices are coming down), but can vary greatly and does not take into account any tax incentives offered by the government for reducing carbon emissions.
* Most systems come with a 5-year warranty, although the solar panels are warranted for 20, and as technology advances some are even coming out with a 30 year warranty.
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Installing solar power into one’s home is a great way to help clean up the environment and save money as well.
Learn more about Home Solar Power at the author’s website on Solar Energy . You can also visit this Solar Power Store to find a variety of solar powered equipment.
Tagged with: home solar power system • PV Modules • solar panels
Filed under: House and Home • Solar Home
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Installing solar power into one’s home is a great first step to cleaning up the environment and save money on electric bills. The US Energy Policy Act of 2005 ruled that all utility companies must make net metering available upon request from their customers. This is another way to reduce electric bills.
What is Net Metering? Think of it as credit against your electric bill that the power company will give you for all of your excess electricity that you generate from a solar panel or wind power. Some people are actually receiving payments from the power company because they generate more that they need.
The idea is an incentive for households to use renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind, to generate electricity and save money. What the power company can do is give the household credit for building homemade solar panels that are connected to the household and generate excess electricity.
This is important information for Virginia ( USA) citizens interested in setting up a “net metering” relationship with local power companies.
According to the US Department of Energy website: In March 2008 Virginia Governor Tim Kaine signed legislation that expands net metering for small, distributed power generators. The legislation extends net metering to all systems that generate electricity using renewable energy and “effectively allows lease financing for net-metered systems by allowing net-metered customers to contract with other entities”.
The legislation also expands the definition of renewable energy to include geothermal power, solar, wind, falling water, sustainable biomass, energy from waste, wave motion, and tides. Previously, as seen in the 2000 law below, net metering applied only to systems that generate electricity using solar, wind, or hydro resources.
According to the Virginia State website for the Department of Environmental Quality
“Virginia’s current net metering law covers residential systems up to 10 kW and commercial systems up to 500 kW. Eligible technologies include solar, wind and hydropower systems intended primarily to offset part or all of a customer’s requirements for electricity. Enrollment is open on a first-come, first-served basis until the rated generating capacity owned and operated by customer-generators in the state reaches 0.1% of each electric distribution company’s peak load for the previous year. Monthly net excess generation is carried forward monthly. In the original rules, any excess at the end of a twelve-month period was granted to the utility. However, it was later decided that, while the month-to-month system should remain intact, excess generated in the twelfth month of the annual period could be credited to the following month. This credit cannot exceed the amount of energy purchased during the previous annual period. For example, if a customer-generator bought 1,500 kWh from a utility during the first eleven months of the annual period, and then generated 2,000 kWh of excess electricity in the twelfth month, the customer could carry forward 1,500 kWh to the following month, and the remaining 500 kWh would be granted to the utility. If a customer-generator wants to receive monetary compensation for excess electricity, that customer may attempt to enter into a purchase-power agreement with a utility.”
The general Virginia net metering interconnection requirements are:
•Application for net metering interconnection
•Interconnection Unit must automatically disconnect from utility company for loss of utility source
•Manual disconnect near utility meter
•Installation by a licensed electrician
•Virginia inspection, by county inspector
•Local Utility Company inspection
•General Liability Insurance
Each local power company may have more or less the same requirements for homemade solar power or other energy resources, and it is the consumer’s responsibility to work with the local power company to meet the requirements. The consumer is responsible for the unit to interconnect, for the expenses associated with the electrician, and for the liability insurance.
Learn more about Homemade Solar Energy from downloadable guides.
Great post about renewable energy! Also, micro hydropower is another great way to generate electricity, if you have a small stream or river near your house.