What is Solar Energy?
Solar energy refers to the radiant energy emitted by the Sun, which is harnessed and converted into usable forms of power, such as electricity and thermal energy.
What are Photovoltaic Systems?
PV systems, or photovoltaic systems, are technology setups designed to convert sunlight directly into electricity using solar panels. These systems are based on the photovoltaic effect, where certain materials (typically silicon-based) generate electric current when exposed to sunlight.
How do Photovoltaic Systems operate, and which components do they have?
Photovoltaic systems convert sunlight directly into electricity and in order to do this, the system requires below components;
Photovoltaic Panels (PV Panels)
Photovoltaic panels are used to collect solar energy from the sun and convert it into electricity. The typical PV panel is composed of individual solar cells, each of which is made from layers of silicon, boron and phosphorus. The boron layer provides the positive charge, the phosphorus layer provides the negative charge, and the silicon wafer acts as the semiconductor.
Monocrystalline Panels
Monocrystalline panels are the most improved and latest technology of PV panels with the cells which are composed of single pure silicon crystal that is cut into several wafers. With the use of the single pure silicon, these panels are the most space-efficient, highest power capacity and longest lasting among all the photovoltaic panels.
Polycrystalline Panels
Polycrystalline panels are composed of different silicone crystals, where they are melted and poured into a square mold. This technique makes the polycrystalline panels much affordable but less efficient at the same time.
Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) Panels
PERC panels are the PV panels which their technology captures the insufficiently absorbed sunlight through an additional layer on the back of their solar cells. Due to the added materials and its greater technology, these panels are more expensive and provides greater efficiency.
Thin-Film Panels
Thin-film panels are characterized by very fine layers that are thin enough to be flexible. These panels do not require any frame and are much lighter and easier to install. However, due to their layer structure, they are much less efficient than typical silicone panels.
ON-GRID (GRID-TIED) SYSTEMS
On-grid systems are electricity generating photovoltaics systems that are connected to the utility grid. These systems consist of PV panels, one or several inverters, a power conditioning unit and grid connection equipment.
When conditions are right, On-Grid systems supply the excess power, beyond consumption by the connected load, to the utility grid. In other words, customers of the on-grid systems are then compensated or credited for their generated power which they do not use and fed to the grid.
OFF-GRID (STANDALONE) SYSTEMS
Off-grid systems are the solar photovoltaic systems that generate electricity and store that power in solar batteries and run independently from the power grid at all times. These systems give off-grid sites the ability to generate energy without grid connection.
