Solar Energy

The following Renewable Energy (RE) systems Solar Photovoltaic (PV), Wind, and Hydropower are capable of powering homes and small businesses with or without any connection to the electric grid save money and decrease Green House Gas emission (GHG) to protect the environment .
With a Grid-Connected or Grid Tie system, allows you to power your home or small business with RE during those periods (daily as well as seasonally) when the sun is shining, the water is running, or the wind is blowing:

• Excess electricity you produce is fed into the grid or power company and sold for credit (Net Metering)
• No resources, renewable resources are unavailable, electricity from the grid supplies power the house

Off Grid or Stand Alone PV system, Renewable Energy resources are available to power the home and charge batteries to store energy.:

• Excess electricity you produce will charge storage batteries
• No Renewable Energy resources are not available( no sun, wind, water flow) storage batteries power the home

Operation of a basic Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Grid-Connected system consist of a Solar Array and Grid Tie inverter (Upper Right picture).The Solar PV panels form an array on the roof top converting the energy from the sun into Direct Current ( DC) and sending it to the inverter which converts DC to Alternating Current (AC) to power home appliances at 120 to 240 VAC The excess electricity you produce is fed into the grid or power company and sold for credit (Net Metering) at 240V AC.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colorado, specializes in renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. Let’s watch a short Video from the (NREL) for more information, Energy 101 Solar PV   “One hour of Solar Energy can power the Earth for a year”( NREL); Click Here–> Video from NREL: Energy 101 Solar PV

The Nation’s electric power infrastructure also known as the grid Is currently reaching its limitation and becoming unreliable. risky and unsecure. In fact, consumer electrification needs have been increasing 25% annually in the USA; as the population increase and more consumers and companies are using more electronic devices.

At this time, the utility companies are upgrading the grid which started in 2010 and to be completed by 2030 to a smart grid to increase performance, efficiency and incorporate internet technology to improve customer interaction, decrease the cost of electricity. According to the University at Buffalo School of Engineering Technology, Electric Power System online course taking at Coursera; “Additional infrastructure must be built smart or not investment totaling approximately $1.5 trillion dollar will be required between 2010 and 2030 to pay for the infrastructure.”

The smart grid when fully implemented will help manage the utilities power generation and the interaction of customer energy real time consumption of electricity on the internet and also:

• Electric demand is estimated to double by 2050
• The cost to build the smart grid will show up as an increase in your electric bill overtime
• The smart grid will enable the integration of distributed RE solar, geothermal.  Hydropower, wind turbine and decrease greenhouse gas emission (GHG).
• Will keep the electricity reliable and affordable
• The customer is able to interact with the utility company in real time and also see the real time pricing of electricity; can also help manage load on peak demand to save money and energy
• On the customer side the smart grid should be user-friendly and easy to manage set it and forget it technology

The cost of energy from municipal power grids keeps going up every day; Installing a solar energy system is a cost-effective, sustainable, and simple way to reduce your environmental footprint and save money. That is why it’s a good idea to install a PV system on your property. The top US Corp have already installed PV systems to cover up to 100% of consumption, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Walmart and more; they are applying Lean Management to eliminate waste and increase efficiency. The report below from NREL shows historical annual and projected electricity consumption which will depend on the efficiency of the smart grid and consumers and businesses behavior from 2018 to 2050. See full report at NREL https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy18osti/71500.pdf