Frequently Asked Question
- You can significantly reduce your electricity bills. Creating your own power means you will only need to draw electricity from the grid on times when you use more than you generate.
- You’ll be cutting your carbon footprint.
- You’ll be more energy self-sufficient.
- Reduces Air Pollution
- Reduces Water Wastage
- Reduces Our Reliance On Fossil Fuels
- Helps Fight Climate Change
- Helps Reduce Our Household’s Carbon Footprint
- Helps Reduce Respiratory and Cardio Health Issues
Apart from being environmentally friendly, solar electricity can reduce your electricity bill to a large extent. This is the primary reason why more and more people are opting for solar electricity these days. The amount of money that you will be able to save will depend on the amount of energy that your solar system is generating. If you have a solar panel system installed in your house, you will draw power at a lower-priced rate tier from the utility grid. Your electricity savings will depend on the money you would have paid if you had traditional electricity. Your electricity bills take a huge space in your monthly budget. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are susceptible to unpredictable and unstable foreign markets. Therefore, the rate of traditional coal-powered electricity is steadily rising always. If you switch to solar electricity, you can prevent yourself from rising electricity costs. You can be sure of predictable and fixed electricity rates for years if you opt for solar electricity.
Net-metering is a feature in solar energy solutions that can reduce electricity bills by exporting the excess solar PV production during daytime back to the grid. The exported units then net off the imported units, which results in lower electricity consumption from the grid.
Benefits of net metering:
- If your home has the advantage of net metering, it allows you to send your extra power to the grid and provide credit that you can use when you need it. Net metering ensures the energy you generate at home doesn’t go to waste.
- Net Energy Metering (NEM) allows electricity consumers to supply their electricity from on-site generation. The NEM concept will ensure that the energy generated from the installed solar PV system will be consumed first, and if there is a surplus it will be exported to WAPDA.
The value of your property will increase drastically when you install a solar power system in your house. It will be a bonus if there is a decrease in the operating expense of managing your house. When you will put your house up for sale, you will see that the price of your house will be higher. As a result, you can sell your house for a huge profit that can lower down your capital gains taxes. Among multiple studies carried out in developed nations, a recent research by an affiliate of U.S Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) shows that homeowners who have installed solar energy systems on their houses can sell their property at a higher price compared to those without one.
So, if you install a solar power system in your house, you can save plenty of amounts on your electric bills while you are living in the house and later you can sell the house at a higher price.
We all know that solar photovoltaic (PV) panels transform sunlight into useable electricity, but few people know the actual science behind the process.
Basic Steps in Solar Energy Generation and Transmission:
- Sunlight hits the solar panels, and creates an electric field.
- The electricity generated flows to the edge of the panel, and into a conductive wire.
- The conductive wire brings the electricity to the inverter, where it is transformed from DC electricity to AC, which is used to power buildings.
- Another wire transports the AC electricity from the inverter to the electric panel on the property (also called a breaker box), which distributes the electricity throughout the building as needed.
- Any electricity not needed upon generation flows through the utility meter and into the utility electrical grid. As the electricity flows through the meter, it causes the meter to run backwards, crediting your property for excess generation.
The Science behind Solar PV cells:
Solar PV panels are comprised of many small photovoltaic cells – photovoltaic meaning they can convert sunlight into electricity. These cells are made of semi-conductive materials, most often silicon, a material that can conduct electricity while maintaining the electrical imbalance needed to create an electric field.
When sunlight hits the semiconductor in the solar PV cell (step 1 in our high level review) the energy from the light, in the form of photons, is absorbed, knocking loose a number of electrons, which then drift freely in the cell. The solar cell is specifically designed with positively and negatively charged semiconductors sandwiched together to create an electric field (see the image to the left for a visualization). This electric field forces the drifting electrons to flow in a certain direction- towards the conductive metal plates that line the cell. This flow is known as an energy current, and the strength of the current determines how much electricity each cell can produce. Once the loose electrons hit metal plates, the current is then directed into wires, allowing the electrons to flow like they would in any other source of electric generation (step 2 in our process). As the solar panel generates an electric current, the energy flows through a series of wires to an inverter (see step 3 above). While solar panels generate direct current (DC) electricity, most electricity consumers need alternating current (AC) electricity to power their buildings. The inverter’s function is to turn the electricity from DC to AC, making it accessible for everyday use.
After the electricity is transformed into a usable state (AC power), it is sent from the inverter to the electrical panel (also called a breaker box) [step 4], and distributed throughout the building as needed. The electricity is now readily available to power lights, appliances, and other electrical devices with solar energy.
Any electricity that is not consumed via the breaker box is sent to the utility grid through the utility meter (our last step, as outlined above). The utility meter measures the flow of electricity from the grid to your property and vice versa. When your solar energy system is producing more electricity than you are using on site, this meter actually runs backwards, and you are credited for the excess electricity generated through the process of net metering. When you are using more electricity than your solar array is generating, you pull supplemental electricity from the grid through this meter, making it run normally. Unless you have gone completely off-grid through a storage solution, you will need to pull some energy from the grid, especially at night, when your solar array is not producing. However, much of this grid energy will be offset from the excess solar energy you generate throughout the day and in periods of lower usage.