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Solar Power
Photovoltaic Systems “PV” or solar electric: Compared to solar hot water, photovoltaic (pronounced: foh-toh-vol-tay-ik) is a relatively new technology. The first photovoltaic effect was discovered by Edmund Becquerel, a 19-year old French experimental physicist in 1839. Albert Einstein received a Nobel Prize in 1923 for explaining the photovoltaic effect. But not until Bell Labs in 1954 did solar PV finally reach a level where its power began to be useful for commercial purposes, such as Western Electric’s dollar bill changer in 1955. Unlike a solar hot water system, which is essentially a plumbing device, PV uses semi-conductors and sunlight to make electricity. The more solar modules a PV system or array has, the more electricity will be generated. DC electricity can be “inverted” into alternating current (AC), so it can be useable power for a home or business, which can off-set or even eliminate the electric bill.
Grid-Interconnected or “Grid-Tied” PV systems are the most popular and use special inverters to allow electricity to flow safely back into the electric grid. When solar power is generated, this power is typically first used by the building, and then surplus electricity can actually flow back into the grid, giving full retail credit per kilowatt-hour from your utility provider. Since there are no batteries, these systems cannot stored energy and are designed to shut down if the grid is down for safety reasons (mainly to protect utility line workers).
Kaitlin Jones
