Buying a Photovoltaic Solar Electric System: A Consumer Guide i Buying a Photovoltaic Solar Electric System A Consumer Guide California Energy Commission William J. Keese, Chairman … Robert Pernell, Commissioner Arthur H. Rosenfeld, Commissioner James D. Boyd, Commissioner John L. Geesman, Commissioner Bob Therkelsen, Executive Director Technology Systems Division Marwan Masri, Deputy Director Technology Management Development Office Jim Hoffsis, Manager Renewable Energy Program Tim Tutt, Technical Director Project …

Buyinga Photovoltaic Solar Electric System: A Consumer Guide 1 Introduction Buyinga Photovoltaic Solar Electric System: A Consumer Guide walks you through the basic technical, economic and regulatory information you need to know before buying a photovoltaic (PV) solar electric generation system. It also describes how to take advantage of financial rebates offered through the Energy Commission’sEmerging Renewables Buy-down Account. A word of caution: This Guide is nota comprehensive technical or economic guide on photovoltaic systems. For that information, see the”Getting Help”section or consult an experienced photovoltaic system designer or supplier. What is a solar electric or photovoltaic system? Unlike a solar hot water system that uses the sun’senergytoheat water, solar electric or photovoltaic technology uses the sun’senergytomake electricity. Learning from the word itself, the prefix “photo”means”produced by light,”and the suffix”voltaic”refers to”electricity produced by a chemical reaction.”PV technology produces electricity directly from the electrons freed by the interaction of sunlight with certain semiconductor materials, such as silicon, inthePVmodule. The electrons are collected to forma direct current (DC) of electricity. The basic building block of PV technology is the solar”cell.”Many cells maybe wired together to producea PV”module,”and many modules are linked together to forma PV”array.” PV modulessold commercially range in power output from about 10 watts to 300 watts, and produceadirect current like the current from a car’sbattery. A complete PVsystem usually consists of one or more modules connected to an inverter that changes the PV’sDC electricity to alternating current (AC) electricity to power your electrical devices and to be compatible with the electric grid.1 Batteries are often included in the system to provide backup power incase of utility power outages. If you are seekingareliable generation system that can function independently of the utility grid, batteries maybeaviable component to your total system. PV cellscanbemade from several processes or technologies. They all do the same job –produce electricity from sunlight. Types of PV cells include: Crystalline Silicon Poly-crystalline Silicon Amorphous Silicon Cadmium Telluride Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide Copper Indium Diselenide Gallium Arsenide The basic types of inverters include: True sine wave inverter. If you plan to take advantage of net metering (see”What is Net…

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