How Solar Works

Solar technology has been around for years. When the sun is shining photons are delivered to the solar panel and absorbed. The average amount of sun delivered throughout the year in Georgia is just about 5 hours a day. In the Georgian summer months you average between 5 to 6 hours of sunlight; in the winter it is between 3 to 4 hours of sunlight. The sun is actually delivering photons.

When absorbed in the solar panel those photons then knock the electrons off their traditional path. Once the electrons are loose they bump into one of the solar cell's buss bar which eventually leads them out the back of the solar panel. Electrons delivered in this manner are in Direct Current (DC) form.

If you had lights, TV's, fans, and toasters which ran off of DC you would just need to regulate the voltage. However, modern buildings like your home run off of Alternating Current (AC). The DC solar array installed on your home or business is converted to AC using an electronic device called an inverter. The inverter takes the DC and converts it into usable AC energy.

Just for a point of reference in Georgia a 1kW DC solar array will produce 1,345 kWhs AC energy per year. The average house in the US uses approximately 10,500 kWh per year of electricity. Thus you need about a 9kW DC solar array to offset a typical US home.