You Can Continue To Pay Your Utility Bill Forever, Or You May Choose To Become Your Own Utility With a Solar + Battery Solution… Instead!.
Electricity generated by solar panels is referred to as PHOTOVOLTAIC energy. This tongue twisting word is often shortened to “PV,” and thus we refer to a solar system that generates electricity as a PV system.
PV technology produces electricity directly from electrons freed by the interaction of sunlight with a solar panel made of semiconductor material. The power provided is direct current (DC) electricity. The basic building block is known as a cell. Many cells put together are known as a module, and many modules assembled together form an array. A PV system will consist of an array of modules generating DC electricity, an inverter, and sometimes battery storage back up with charge controller.
There are two kinds of electricity, DC and AC. Homes that are connected to utility power use AC electricity. Flashlights, small radios and automobiles use DC electricity. In order for you to be able to use solar to operate the appliances in your home, an inverter will convert PV power from DC to AC. Inverters can be further classified as units that use batteries (UPS) and those that use the utility grid as power storage (Grid-tied). Inverters are now required to possess meters that will indicate their performance and some manufacturer’s supply remote display units that can be mounted inside the home. It is important to check on your inverter regularly to become acquainted with its operation and performance.
Today in Australia you may connect your solar system directly into the wires of your utility. You will actually be spinning your meter backwards when your system is generating more power than you are consuming. When you generate excess electricity (more power than you are using) it will enter the grid and be sold back to the Utility company. Your meter will tally the excess and give credit back to your account.
Small-scale Technology Certificates, or STCs, are a tradeable commodity attached to eligible installations of renewable energy systems (including solar panels, solar water heaters and heat pumps).
Under the Federal Government’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, when you install an eligible system, you may claim a set number of these STCs.
This number is based on the amount of electricity in megawatt hours (MWh)
Today in Australia you may connect your solar system directly into the wires of your utility. You will actually be spinning your meter backwards when your system is generating more power than you are consuming. When you generate excess electricity (more power than you are using) it will enter the grid and be sold back to the Utility company. Your meter will tally the excess and give credit back to your account.
– generated by your small-scale solar panel, wind or hydro system over the course of its lifetime of up to 15 years; or
– displaced by your solar water heater or heat pump over the course of its lifetime of up to 10 years,