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Solar Energy — about the future of the planet.

How Solar Electric Systems Work

The amount of sunlight available at a given location is called the Solar insolation or "Solar resource". A PV array's electrical production depends on the Solar insolation at the location as well as the array's orientation to South, the tilt angle and the equipment efficiency. Photovoltaic technology produces electricity from sunlight by converting DC energy to useable AC power. When the sun is shining electricity is produced, even more so when the sun is directly over the array. Electrons freed by the interaction of sunlight with the semiconductor materials in the PV cells create electricity. Clean, renewable energy produced by a system that has no moving parts and is silent.

Simple PV Solar Cell

Sunlight dislodges electrons in silicon-based semiconductors, producing direct current electricity.

Refer to the Glossary of Terms for helpful information.

Solar Panel — The systems modules convert sunlight into DC electrical current.

DC Disconnect — Allows for the flow of DC current to be interrupted upstream of the inverter.

Inverter — Converts DC current to usable AC current for transmission to the buildings electrical distribution system.