How Does Solar Work?
Solar panels, or modules, create DC power (Direct Current). However, homes use AC power (Alternating Current). Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems use an inverting system to change the energy form to match your home. This connects to the Main Electrical Panel feeding clean energy to your home. Unused energy made from solar goes back to the electric utility grid providing you energy credits.
How Does It Save Me Money?
A process called Net Metering.
• Your electrical meter records energy delivered to the home and received by the local electric company.
• Homes with solar are charged only for the net power consumed in a month: the difference between energy received and delivered.
• Because solar PV systems only generate energy in the daytime, Net Metering is how you can offset your power bill and start saving money.
The goal with solar is to make more energy in kilowatt-hours (KWh) than you use to offset your expected energy consumption. Excess credits on your account in months with surplus solar production are credited to the next month’s billing cycle.
Basically, energy credits build up in your “savings account” called a kilowatt hour reserve. A credit is another term for a single kilowatt hour – the unit of energy shown on an electric bill.Depending on your energy consumption, having a solar system on your home can cut your future energy cost in half(or more) over a 25-year period! If you are ready to stop renting your energy, this is the way out.