Solar power for homes has come a long way since the boxy design of the solar panels most of us are familiar with. Tremendous advancements have been made in solar cell construction that allow many building materials to be manufactured with the solar cells incorporated into their design effectively turning them into virtually undetectable solar panels.

There are two ways that solar power for homes is supplied. These are off-grid and on grid or net metering. A stand alone solar power system acts as the sole source of electricity for your home and is off the grid as such. Alternatively, supplemental solar power systems, can supply all of your homes energy depending on sunlight availability. When sunlight is not available, your home can use energy from the power grid.

The same basic parts for generating solar power for homes are used for both standalone and supplemental systems. First, there are the photovoltaic panels, also known as PV panels or solar panels. These are lined with a semi-conductor unit or solar cell which will turn the sun’s rays into electricity. This electricity is routed into a voltage regulator/controller that maintains the current at the appropriate level for your system. The electricity then goes into either a battery backup storage system or directly into your home’s electrical system so that solar power will be supplied after sundown.

If your home is connected to a power company grid you do not have to install a storage system, but it does have its advantages as it will help to further lower your monthly utility bill, and it will make power available to you during a power outage.

Supplementing or replacing your electricity needs with solar power for homes is becoming easier and more affordable than ever. Some building materials include roofing material, awnings, car port roofing and the edges of the panes in your windows. This type of solar panel is called Building Integrated Photovoltaics. When used in roofing material these panels offer the same level of home protection as asphalt shingles while functioning as a solar panel.

The set-up cost of converting to solar power for homes s the real disadvantage, as it can be quite expensive. But there are some things you can do about that. State and federal grants are there to assist you in setting up an alternative energy source for your home, taking some of the financial weight off your shoulders. While the federal rebate might vary from one year to the next, state rebates vary from one state to another; some states offer special low-interest financing as an additional incentive of the green variety along with any rebates.

Any green project will reduce the environmental impact your home has on our world. However, the greatest pay off will be a reduced or even eliminated utility bill each month. Quite a few utility companies have a metering program under which you can sell excess power generated from your home solar power system to the local utility company, in effect making your meter run backwards. This helps more than just you. The excess electricity can be used by other customers of the power company and can reduce the reliance on fossil fuels that power companies currently use.

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Tags: Solar Power

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 10:28 am and is filed under Solar Power. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.