Keep It Green Ideas Blog: Generate Residential Solar Power

As the price of fossil fuels reach astronomical amounts more and more homeowners are harnessing their power from the sky by utilizing residential solar power generated by solar panels. If your home is connected to the power company supply grid you can install residential solar power to be used either as supplemental power, or as the primary power supply with the electricity supplied by the power company as supplemental or backup power.

The solar panels needed for generating residential solar power are most often roof or wall mounted but can also be mounted on a free- standing platform, or tower type setup that can actually turn throughout the day to follow the path of the sun. The solar panels are lined with a semiconductor material that releases electricity when sunlight passes through them.

Not all solar panels are like those great big square panels we have all seen at one time or another. You can now buy solar cells that are an integral part of the roofing material that offers the same protection as standard asphalt shingles while providing you with the means to generate residential solar power. That means you get a nearly invisible system which doesn't detract from your home's appearance.

Depending on your installation type, how the electricity gets into your home will differ. Your residential solar power system can be considered a stand alone system if it is not connected to the typical power company grid. The solar panel is the main source of energy in a stand-alone solar power system. The electricity generated in the solar panel is sent to a regulator or controller; from there it flows into an inverter, which converts the electricity from direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). AC is the standard house current used in America to power most of the devices in our homes.

With certain types of installation the power from the solar panels would be routed to a power inverter then into a storage system or directly into your homes electrical system. Excess power can be diverted to the power company. Electrical power that is routed to a storage system, commonly a single or array of batteries, can be tapped into at nightfall or during overcast days. Under either system, the current flows into your homes circuit breaker where it will supply the power to light your home and run your appliances.

Numerous localities provide what is called "metering", which transmits the excess power produced by the residential solar power system to the utility company's grid. In effect, your power meter shifts into reverse so that they could in fact be the ones receiving an invoice from your household!

If you install residential solar power, there can be financial incentives at not only the state, but also the federal level. Some of these incentives include tax breaks, and low cost financing which can help offset most, if not all cost of equipment and installation. The best break might be that you will also see that your electricity bill has virtually disappeared.