Solar Systems – What is a Solar Energy System?
How do these renewable sources work, in actual? How do we actually use the sunlight and makes the maximum output from the Sun?
Solar, can be called as the most abundantly available source of energy on the planet. The amount of incident sunlight that we receive daily, can be counted as 10,000 times more than the total energy demands of the world. Utilizing the sunlight to fulfill the energy needs not only is the cheapest way but also the most useful way to combat the ever-increasing climate crises.
Sun, itself is a giant nuclear reactor, which produces and releases the tiny energy packets, called photons, which themselves can be sufficient enough, to fulfill all the energy needs, of the entire world, when utilized efficiently. Photovoltaic technology or PV-technology is utilized for that purpose – where photovoltaic simply means the ability to convert the sunlight (photons – the packets of energy) into electricity.
When sunlight hits the PV cells of the solar panels, it activates or triggers the panels and generate or create an electric field. The panels are made up from the silicon (semi-conductor technology) cells and a metal frame, which is then cased under a glass and a special film around it, and obviously the wiring. When the sunlight strikes the panel, it energizes the cell and makes the electrons to come loose, which are then made into motion and generates the current out of that electrical field. The current that is produced by the panels, is direct current (DC) in nature, which isn’t the type our appliances operate on, the current that utilizable by the end user is actually alternating in nature, can also be called as the alternating current (AC). In order to convert the produced direct current(DC) into alternating current(AC), we need another device, which is called a solar inverter.
Solar Inverter can also be called the brain of the solar energy system, because without an inverter, the current produced by the panels won’t be usable by the end consumers. The DC produced by the panels is then sent to an inverter which shifts the direct current into an alternating current(AC), which ultimately powers the whole home.
Once the electricity and produced and converted to usable form, then comes the point of what happens to the surplus amount of electricity that’s been produced but for some reason, isn’t utilized by the user. For that purpose, comes the solution In the form of a device which is the main medium of savings, for the future. The device is called a net-meter or a green-meter. A net-meter is a device which is bi-directional in nature. The meter is installed after the installation of a solar energy system, from domestic to industrial level. A normal meter is uni-directional in nature which only let the current pass in one direction (from the grid to your home), a net-meter or a bi-directional meter allows this flow in both directions i.e., from and to utility grid. The current units, produced by the solar energy system, and aren’t utilized by the consumer will be send back to the grid and will be exchange later, in the off-peak hours, with Wapda and the consumer will get the electricity bill of the units they consumed , above their total production. The process is called net-metering. The whole process comes with an app which transparently shows all the details of the system with sheer accuracy and digitization. Everything in your own pocket! Sounds amazing, No? This is how the solar energy systems can not only reduce your overall electricity bill to zero, practically, but also saving the whole environment from a big amount of carbon footprint, leading to a stable environment and atmosphere for us and our generation.
