A photovoltaic (PV) system uses solar energy to generate electricity, it comprises one or more solar panels, an inverter, and other mechanical and electrical hardware. It can be a small rooftop system to a massive utility-scale generation plant depending on the area and purpose. Solar PV Systems can be divided mainly into three types Grid-connected Solar PV Systems, Hybrid Solar PV Systems and Off-grid Solar PV Systems.
How does a Solar PV System work?
Solar PV Modules capture photons from the sunlight, and then, through the photovoltaic effect, they create an electric current. Each module creates a tiny amount of energy but an array of solar modules (provided they are interconnected together) can produce a higher amount of power. The solar PV modules produce DC (Direct Current) Power, but appliances or other electronic items are designed to operate on AC (Alternating Power) Power. Hence, to use the power produced by the solar PV modules it needs to be converted from DC to AC first, and that’s the job of an inverter.
An average home has more than enough roof area for the necessary number of solar panels to produce enough solar electricity to supply all of its power needs and excess electricity generated goes onto the main power grid, paying off in electricity use at night. Provided a battery pack is connected to the solar PV system, the system stores any excess power in the battery pack first. Once the battery bank is fully charged, then the system sends the remaining power to the government grid.
The overall amount of electricity generated by a solar PV System is highly dependent on several factors, including the orientation and tilt angle of the solar panels, location, number of hours of sunlight, time of the year, the efficiency of the solar panel, any losses due to shading, dirt and even ambient temperature. It can still generate energy during cloudy and overcast days. But the amount of electricity generation depends on the thickness and height of the clouds. High clouds often enable a lot of light through, while low, thick storm clouds can almost block all sunlight.
