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AlixanaEuphoria
Just place your solar panel in the sun and the sunshine photons will excite the solar cell electrons and convert that sunlight to electricity in one step. Free renewable energy! Almost. The sunshine is free but the solar panels are still quite expensive. And if you want to power your appliances or sell your energy to the public grid you will need an array of panels, batteries and a solar inverter.
Photovoltaic (PV) systems are the fastest growing segment of the alternative energy industry. Ten countries and thirty-nine US states encourage "net metering." Excess electricity generated by rooftop PV systems is fed through a meter into the utility grid and sold to the utility. When a home requires more electricity than the grid-connected rooftop PV array is generating, the need is met by utility power from the grid. (Net metering is sometimes called "net billing.")
Because solar power depends on sunlight, storage is the number one problem to address when designing a solar power system. PV systems use rechargeable batteries to store excess electricity and inverters to convert the direct current from the batteries to alternating current to power appliances.
Cells, panels, arrays... an array is built of panels is built of cells. A solar cell does not, by itself, produce enough electricity to be useful, but when thirty-six cells are assembled in a panel enough electricity is produced to charge a car battery. When a number of panels are installed as an array, they can provide electricity to a building.
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