You can make your journey to solar less intimidating by getting familiar with the basic terms
related to home solar power systems.
Panels: PV panels are the single most significant expense of a PV system. Their placement
and mounting affect your system performance more than any other facet of the job.
Mounting equipment: Mounting your PV panels is of critical importance. Panels should be
mounted where they’ll get maximum sunshine over the course of a year. But the more difficult
problem is to mount them with enough integrity that they’ll stay put for 25 years or more.
DC-to-AC inverters: Inverters take the low-voltage, high-current signals from the PV panels
and convert them into 120VAC (or 240 VAC), which is directly compatible with grid power.
Tracking mounts: Tracking mounts mechanically move the PV panels for a day to face the sun
at all times directly. Dual-axis trackers change both azimuth and elevation, while single-axis
trackers only match the azimuth.
Disconnect switches: Disconnect switches are of critical importance, and they need to be
mounted within easy reach. Every member of your family should know exactly how to turn the
PV system off for safety reasons. If any abnormal behavior occurs in your home’s electrical
system, shut off the solar system first.
Wiring and fuse box connections: Wiring, conduit, and connections to your household main
fuse box are minor hardware expenses, but they comprise a big chunk of the labor when you’re
installing a PV system.
Utility power meters: While conventional power meters are capable of spinning backward,
utility companies typically replace them with a special digital meter when you connect to the
grid. This is because the majority of solar customers opt for the TOU (time-of-use) rate
structure, which requires more intelligent processing than a mechanical device can provide.
Source: dummies.com
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