Solar panels, or photovoltaics (PV), capture the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity to use in your home.
Installing solar panels lets you use free, renewable, clean electricity to power your appliances. You can sell extra electricity to the grid or store it for later use.
There are over 1.3 million installations on homes across the UK.
How do solar panels work?
- When the sun shines on a solar panel, solar energy is absorbed by individual PV cells. These cells are made from layers of semi-conducting material, most commonly silicon.
- The PV cells produce an electrical charge as they become energised by the sunlight. The stronger the sunshine, the more electricity generated. But cells don’t need direct sunlight to work and can even work on cloudy days.
- This electrical charge creates a direct current (DC) of electricity.
- The direct current passes through a solar inverter to turn it into alternating current (AC) electricity. You need AC electricity to run your household appliances.
Do I need to maintain a solar panel system?
You don’t need to do much to keep your solar panel system running well. The main thing is to keep nearby trees well-trimmed to minimise shading where possible.
In the UK, rain will clean your panels if they’re tilted at 15 degrees or more. Debris is more likely to build up if you have ground-mounted panels, or if you live in an area with more dust in the air. In these cases, you might need to have the panels cleaned occasionally.
