Alternatives to traditional, grid powered electricity for the home are becoming more popular because of increases in the cost of supplying electricity. One such alternative is the solar electricity system. There are a few reasons why solar is becoming more popular. This article will cover these reasons and briefly describe how such systems work in the home.

A solar electricity system uses photovoltaic (PV) cells to create direct current electricity. It does this because sunlight reacts with silicon, the material used to make a PV cell. Photons from the Sun react with silicon atoms to ‘throw loose’ an electron. When you provide positive and negative terminals to your system, this causes the electron to flow to the positive terminal, thus you have electric current.

When you increase the number of PV cells you can increase the amount of current. Direct current can be stored in a battery bank. From the battery bank it can be converted to alternating current using an inverter. This alternating current can be used in your home to power the lights or any other appliance that require electricity.

Solar systems are becoming more popular now because they are becoming more efficient. Smaller panels can produce more electricity. And these panels can be installed onto the roof of a house and provide a decent amount of electricity. The costs of these panels have also reduced. So technical innovation has made solar power a more viable system for the average home.

Another reason why solar power is becoming more popular is political. Many policy changes have created incentives to use solar power systems. Two examples of these incentives are rebates on a system that meets agreed criteria (power generated). Depending on where you live, these rebates vary from 20 to 75% of the cost of the system.

Another incentive is net metering. This is effectively where you sell your electricity to the company that you buy electricity off. This was done before any policy initiatives but now the cost that you sell the power to the utility company is regulated by law.

Another reason why solar power systems are becoming more popular is because the utility companies have integrated solar systems into their service. So you can have a solar system in your home without knowing much about the process or even bothering to set it up. It can all be done for you. This is not the case with many other renewable energy systems.