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Solar Energy
102: Solar Power in Your Home
Learn how solar power works in a residential home and its benefits.
How
does solar power work in a residential home?
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| During time when excess electricity
flows to the grid, the utility meter will run backward, giving the homeowner
credit for contributing electricity to the grid. Note that electricity produced
from solar is not stored anywhere along the line. |
| 1 | The solar panels on the roof convert the sun’s energy into
direct current (DC) electricity. |
| 2 | The current flows to an inverter, which converts the DC into
alternating current (AC), |
| 3 | where it is diverted to power |
| 4 | an appliance, for example, the lamp pictured, or sent to |
| 5 | the utility meter, which feeds it to |
| 6 | the general electricity grid to which the home is
attached. |
| Photo courtesy of NREL |
This is a simplified explanation of the process and it sounds like a great
idea. Could you save money by installing solar panels and generating solar
power where you live? Could you avoid putting tons of CO2 into the
environment by using a “clean” energy source like the sun? Find out if solar is
right for
you.
Solar power for a
Dow Corning facility
Employees at Dow Corning's Wiesbaden site in Germany have the
opportunity to see solar panels in action every day. More than 1,000 square
meters of solar panels were installed on the roof and façades of office and
production buildings.
The energy generated by the solar panels is fed back into the local
electricity grid. In return, the company benefits from subsidies to buy
electricity for its own energy needs. Dow Corning Wiesbaden commits to
reinvest 30 percent of these subsidies every year in sustainable energy
projects aiming to reduce the site’s total energy consumption.
The solar panel modules were supplied by Photowatt International SAS, one of
the largest manufacturers of solar silicon ingots, wafers, cell and modules in
Europe. They contain Dow Corning® brand materials developed for use
in photovoltaic cells and modules.
Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor Group both play
significant roles in the solar energy industry. Dow Corning provides
materials and services for the entire solar industry, from the basic building
blocks of silicon feedstock for ingots and wafers production to solar module
frame assembly and sealing materials. Hemlock Semiconductor is a world leader
in the production of polycrystalline silicon, the cornerstone material used to
produce solar cells that harvest energy from sunlight.
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