How solar energy works

Have you ever looked at a neighbour, or someone else's, solar set up and wondered how it works?

Most likely you’re looking for a photovoltaic (PV) panel system, which is used to produce and store solar power. So, the electricity you produce means you need less from the grid, as well as being very good for the environment.

Solar panels

Installers will put solar panels on the side of your roof that gets the most sun, so you can create as much DC power as possible. (NB: DC means direct current and you can’t use this without changing it to AC, or alternating current.)

Inverter

An inverter is used to change DC into the 240V AC electricity that’s used by your appliances. It sends whatever you don’t need back into the ‘grid’. 

Meter

Your meter records what you send back into the grid, not necessarily all the power that you generate and then use yourself.

Grid

Any electricity that is not used is fed into the electricity grid through your electricity meter. When you are consuming more than you produce you draw electricity from the grid.

Solar energy systems are available in a range of sizes; a typical system is 1.5kW.

So, when it comes to solar power, you’ll be:

1. Generating power that you use

2. Using power that you didn’t generate

3. Generating power that you don’t use!

Generating the power you use is probably why you chose solar in the first place: you get to create and use your own energy.

Using power that you didn't generate is for when you are using more electricity than you are creating and that use is charged to you on your bill at the general electricity rates. This charge is different to the feed-in-tariff rate (which we talk about next), because it takes into account all the costs involved in generating and distributing the electricity (which you don’t have when you generate power at home). Imagine if you had to put in and maintain the network to send the power back to us!

Generating power that you don’t use is where you can make money back from the electricity that you generate and that comes off your bill. This amount is shown on your bill as a credit* and is calculated based on a feed-in-tariff (FiT) rate.