Renewable "Green" Energy in the Home - How Does Solar Power Work?

[Dominick Penny]

Solar power is often seen as one of the most expensive ways of
generating renewable energy. Compared to the number of electricity
generating companies using wind power, a lot less of them are making
use of solar power. The same goes for people who are trying to
generate their own electricity at home -- wind is seen as the most
viable option.
Actually though, solar power doesn't have to be that expensive -- as
costs come down solar power is becoming increasingly affordable. In
this article I will outline the basics of solar power generation.
Solar electricity generation is actually a lot simpler in terms of
setup for the home energy enthusiast. Whereas with wind power one must
make blades, put up a tower, sort out an alternator and such, in solar
generation the magic all happens within the solar power cell.
Solar power cells are more correctly known as photovoltaic (PV) cells.
Essentially what happens inside the cell is a reaction based on
negative and positive slices of silicon. As the slices heat up
electrons start to move around inside the cells. These electrons are
captured by electrical contacts and there we have it -- electricity.
Generating solar power at home couldn't be more simple. To generate
the electricity all you really have to do is put up the solar panels
in an appropriate location within your house and wire them up.
Much like wind power, the electricity generated by solar power is DC
or Direct Current, whereas most household devices are alternating
current. Generally in a home system you will store electricity in a
bank of batteries. You can also setup what is known as a "dump load",
so that when the batteries are full the excess electricity being
generated is used to heat hot water or provide some kind of lighting
-- basically, you are ensuring that none of the generated electricity
gets wasted.
The last step is ensuring that we can make use of the electricity we
have stored. Without getting too technical, basically the electricity
stored in batteries and the electricity we use to power our appliances
is different. However, we can make them the same. To do this, the
electricity from the batteries passes through what is called an
inverter. This basically converts it into the right kind of
electricity to power your appliances. From the inverter you have your
plugs setup that you plug your TV / stereo / etc into.

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