Solar Kits
To convert sunlight into household electricity there are some components needed in addition to the home solar panels. Today we are going to break down the system into parts and hopefully you will find this information helpful.
OK, what I write here in this SolarCost Blog is generic. You may find other parts that are not listed here but in general the solar kits described here should represent the parts found in common home solar system.
Sunbeams emitted to our earth consist of light and heat energy. We can use both of them in different application; the heat can be perfectly used to heat water or air while the light can be used to produce solar power electricity.
Electric solar panels capture light energy from the sun and convert it into DC current. Because the panels need the light energy only – not the heat – they still can work in winter although the performance is not as good as in the full sun season.
Any other solar kits besides the electric solar panels are grouped together into BOS (balance of system).
- Panels Mounting System
A Hardware / mounting device to secure the solar panels to the ground, roof or a pole. There are two types of mounting system, fixed and movable. The movable mounting device is more expensive because it’s equipped with a tracking technology that will self-adjust the hardware to follow the sun movement. This design allows more light energy captured resulting in more electricity created.
- Combiner Box
A combiner box is needed to combine some solar panels in parallel. It also has a built in circuit breakers / fuses. Normally its position is next to the solar panels.
- Charge Controller / Regulator
The main function of a solar charge controller is to regulate the current output from solar panels before fed to the storage battery. Without this regulator the battery can be overcharged by the solar panels. The regulator also has a battery current leakage preventer. It blocks current flowing back from the battery into the solar panels during no presence of sun.
Solar batteries are needed to keep the electricity produced by solar panels. If you choose off-grid home solar system you need to have them included in the solar kits. Off-grid means the home solar system is not connected to the grid provided by the utility company.
- Inverters
Depending on what system you have in your house, a solar inverter is used to change the DC current from either the solar batteries or straight from the solar panels output into AC current that is needed for your household. If your system is on-grid no battery is needed, the inverter will take current from the PV panels but if you prefer off-grid solar kits you will need the battery to keep the PV panels output.
- Other Accessories
Any other parts including disconnects, brackets, connectors, conduit and cables needed to safely connect the whole solar kits together. All parts and the installation work should meet the US NEC (National Electric Code) Section 690.
Further detailed information will be posted in the future posts.
the SolarCost Admin
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