In 1954, scientists at Bell Labs discovered that silicon, an element found in sand, created an electric charge when it was exposed to sunlight. This discovery led to the development of solar cells that captured the sun’s energy and turned it into electricity. Since then, the technology has evolved, and solar power systems now provide incredibly attractive financial benefits for homeowners and businesses across Singapore.
Thanks to solar panels, we have access to an inexhaustible source of power, known as the sun. Throughout the day, the cells on your solar panels absorb the energy from sunlight. Circuits within the cells collect that energy and turn it into direct current (DC) electricity. The DC electricity is passed through a device called an inverter to convert it to the alternating current (AC) electricity used by most homes and businesses. You can use that electricity in your home or send it back to the grid.
Solar Power System Diagram : How Solar Power System Connect To Grid
The Main Components of Solar Power System :
1. Solar Panels
2. Inverters
3. Racking and Mounting Systems
4. Performance Monitoring Systems
Solar Panels
Solar panels collect and convert the sun’s energy into electricity. They are a key component of a solar panel system. Most commonly available panels today are either poly-crystalline or mono-crystalline solar panels.
The key differences between poly- and mono-crystalline panels are in efficiency and cost. Typically, mono-crystalline panels are more efficient (and thus more expensive) than poly-crystalline panels.
To find the right solar panels for your home and your wallet, there are a variety of criteria to keep in mind, including product quality, durability, and long-term performance. In order to make a smart choice, please contact to our solar expert. Solar Era will explain to you how to select a suitable solar panels for your home or business.
Inverters
The cells in your solar panels collect the sun’s energy and turn it into DC electricity. Most of the homes and businesses, however, use AC electricity. Inverters are used to convert the DC electricity from your panels into usable AC electricity. There are 3 types of solar inverters, which are string inverter, micro-inverter and power optimiser. In Singapore, string inverter is the most famous because it is cheap, simple and efficient.
String inverter is used to connect your entire array of solar panels to your electrical panel. This is the cheapest inverter option, and less expensive than micro-inverters. However, if one of the panels stops producing electricity, even due to temporary shading, it can bring down the performance of the whole system.
Micro-inverters will be installed at each solar panel, which allows each panel to maximize production. If some of your panels are shaded at different times of day, or if they are not all installed facing the same direction, micro-inverters will minimize performance issues. The micro-inverters is more expensive than the string inverters.
Power optimisers are a hybrid of micro-inverter and string inverter systems. Like micro-inverters, power optimisers are installed at each panel. However, instead of converting the DC electricity from the solar panels into AC electricity, the optimisers “condition” the DC electricity before sending it to a string inverter. Like micro-inverters, they perform well when one or more panels are shaded or if panels are installed facing different directions. Power optimiser systems tend to cost more than string inverter systems, but less than micro-inverter systems.
In short, string inverter is the cheapest. Power optimiser is more expensive than string inverter. The most expensive is micor-inverter. In order to maximise the performance of your solar power system, Solar Era will consult and design the most energy efficient and cost effective solar power system for your home and business.
Racking and Mounting Systems
Racking and mounting systems are used to affix your solar panels either to your roof or to the ground. They also allow you to position your panels at an angle that is best for capturing the sun’s rays.
In order to maximise the performance of solar panels, solar panels should face east and be installed at an angle between 10 and 15 degrees. This is optimal orientation and tilt angle according to a study of Optimal Orientation and Tilt Angle for Maximising in-Plane Solar Irradiation for PV Applications in Singapore. Panels facing north, south or west and at a pitch angle of five degrees or more will still work well, but may produce 10% - 20% less electricity than those installed under ideal conditions.
There are two types of mounting systems, which are fixed mounts and track mounts. Fixed mounts remain the panels in stationary position. However, track mounts allow the panels to “follow” the sun as it moves across the sky during the day (single-axis track mounts) and during the changing seasons (dual-axis track mounts). Unfortunately, track mounts are only suitable for panels installed on the ground.
Performance Monitoring Systems
Performance monitoring systems provide you with detailed information about the performance of your solar power system. With a monitoring system, you can measure and track the amount of electricity your system produces on an hourly basis.
While some solar installers charge extra for installing a monitoring system, it can provide significant value over the lifetime of your solar panels. Monitoring systems help you identify any performance issues to ensure that you maximize the electricity production (and therefore the financial returns) of your solar panel system.
There are two types of monitoring systems, which are on site monitoring and remote monitoring. On-site monitoring is a monitoring device that physically located on your property and records the amount of electricity produced. On the other hand, remote monitoring is that your solar power system will transmit its performance data to a monitoring service that you can access online or with a mobile device.