Solar Panels And BatterY Storage
Robco Electric specializes Solar Panels and Battery Storage
Solar Panels
Solar panels or modules ( installed on the roof but can also be mounted on the ground or an overhead canopy like a parking structure) are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells. When sunlight hits the cells, a current converts it into power. Those solar panels’ direct current (DC) power is sent to an inverter.
The inverter inverts the current from DC to AC (alternating current) power, which your home uses. The inverter also monitors your system’s performance in the home. It’s the “brain” of your solar array. Your inverter will also provide the monitoring of your system.
Our Enphase systems come with lifetime free production and consumption monitoring through the Enphase MyEnlighten application.
The AC power then travels from the inverter to the electrical panel, often called a breaker box or main panel, and into your home. Anything that uses energy, like your dishwasher, your kid’s video game system, or your TV, will draw it from the solar panels first.
If solar is unavailable (dark or cloudy outside), you’ll get your power from the grid just like you do now. Everything in your home that runs on power will run precisely as it is now. Your air conditioner can’t tell the difference between running on dirty energy or running on clean kilowatt hours, but your power bill and your lungs sure can!
Unlike fossil fuels, solar power doesn’t emit harmful smog, waste chemicals, r noise to mess up the air or water. Your home will also gain value as now you have a power plant on the roof that runs on unlimited free fuel. No more rising utility rates for you!
Battery Energy Storage
There is a lot of talk about solar batteries attached to solar systems, but most systems do not come with a battery. There are some excellent reasons for that here in Las Vegas. To help you decide if a battery is a good fit for your project, you first need to understand what a solar storage battery does and how it works.
A battery attached to your solar array is like the battery in your cell phone or laptop. It gets charged by sunlight hitting your panels or power from the grid and will discharge that power in one of two ways.
BACK-UP POWER: If the power goes out, your home will switch automatically to battery backup power. Depending on the type of solar and battery system you select, the solar may continue to provide power if the sun is up, or it may be shut off until the battery drains past a certain point.
LOAD SHIFTING or POWER STORAGE: The solar storage battery will store excess solar production in the battery to use later – during high energy demand times, at night, or during a power outage. Some batteries can also be charged with power from the grid.
What a battery system can power at what any reasonable person would call an “affordable price” does not include central air conditioning, pool pumps, electric water heaters, or charging electric vehicles. These high-load appliances will require three or more battery units to power them.
