Solar Electricity Basics - Revised and Updated 2nd Edition

Dan Chiras

Description

The indispensable guide to solar electricity systems for homeowners, business owners, builders, and students

• Best-selling author has written over 30 books and 6 books specifically on solar electricity
• He is a leading expert in the field of solar and renewable energy
• Author's previous solar electricity books Power from the Sun and Solar Electricity Basics sold 13000 copies and 10000 respectively. The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy sold over 35 000 copies
• This second edition has 50% new material and covers huge range of technological advances in solar over the past 7 years as well as information on affordability
• Author has published close to 400 articles in leading magazines including Home Power, Solar Today and Mother Earth News
• Over 40 years' experience designing, building, teaching about and living in solar buildings.
• Founder and lead instructor at The Evergreen Institute Centre for Renewable Energy and Green Building
• U.S. is still expected to more than double its photovoltaic capacity over the next five years. (Canada is ranked 10th in the world for solar installations)
• A guide to solar systems covering sizing and costing of systems, how to choose the right system for you, location, maintenance, connection to the grid and net metering
• Helps the reader choose the correct solar electricity system based on location, needs, finances, long-term outlook and state laws
• Differs from other solar electricity books in that is specific and easy to use
• California leads the states in solar energy with 17% of its energy coming from Solar. Other regions that have a lot of solar are: Arizona, Nevada, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, Utah and Georgia

Audience: Renewable energy contractors, owner builders, DIYers, homesteaders, engineers, architects, solar installation professionals, and municipalities

International: Pakistan, Australia, UK, Italy, Germany, India and Japan are the leading countries for solar energy

Canada:

• Canada is ranked 10th in solar installations world wide and is rapidly growing
• Regional interest: Over 98% of Canada's solar generation capacity comes from Ontario

The indispensable guide to solar electricity systems for homeowners, business owners, builders, and students

Climate change and limits to fossil fuels compel us to find safer, more economical, and more sustainable ways to meet our needs for electricity. And, as more and more electric cars hit the road, we'll need to find a way to provide fuel that is clean, environmentally sustainable, and affordable.

With Solar Electricity Basics, author Dan Chiras offers a concise and up-to-date guide covering all the essentials. It explores:

• How to size, cost, and choose the right system, including off-grid vs. grid-tied vs grid-tied with battery backup
• Where to mount a system for maximum performance
• What type of modules and inverters to buy
• How to install and maintain batteries
• Cost vs benefit for solar electric systems
• How to connect to the grid, and what type of net metering your area offers.

Solar Electricity Basics is an indispensable guide for homeowners, business owners, builders, and students for figuring out solar electricity quickly and easily.

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Solar Electricity
Chapter 2: Understanding the Sun and Solar Energy— Things You Need to Know to Size and Mount a Solar Array
Chapter 3: Understanding Solar Electricity— Types of Modules, How They Are Rated, and Advances in Solar Technology
Chapter 4: Does Solar Electricity Make Sense? Sizing a System and Evaluating Its Cost and Economic Benefits
Chapter 5: Solar Electric Systems: What Are Your Options?
Chapter 6: Understanding Inverters
Chapter 7: Batteries, Charge Controllers, and Gen-Sets
Chapter 8: Mounting a PV Array for Maximum Output
Chapter 9: Final Considerations: Permits, Covenants, Utility Interconnection, and Buying a System

Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher

Sujets

• Solar power
• Energy independence
• Engineering & Technology
• Sustainable energy
• Sustainable living
• General officer
• Environmental science
• Environment
• Energy
• Énergie
• General

Informations

• Publié par: New Society Publishers
• Date de parution: 12 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 13
• EAN13: 9781771423144
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Praise for
Solar Electricity Basics
Dan effectively takes the guess-work out of solar energy with simple explanations and instructions that anyone can follow. Just as importantly he presents all the options in a way that makes deciding which installation might best suit your needs. This is a must-read for anyone looking to make steps towards a resilient energy future.
- Oliver M. Goshey, founder and director, Abundant Edge
Lucky for you, Dan Chiras strikes again. With his usual plain-spoken clarity, Dan makes a complex subject easy and accessible. The perfect guide for anyone to go solar!
- Bruce King, author, The New Carbon Architecture
Thinking of going solar? Even if you intend to hire experts to install your system, it helps enormously to know a little about the technology, and how to assess your site s solar resource. Dan Chiras is the perfect guide; he s enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and makes it all easy to understand.
- Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, and author, The End of Growth
Dan Chiras is the man who launched a thousand rooftop solar arrays. Don t even think about dabbling in photovoltaics without Dan s guidance. Solar Electricity Basics, Second Edition is the essential go-to manual for getting a grip on the ins and outs of photovoltaic systems. Read it, use it, and harness the power of the sun on your home, farm, or homestead.
- John D. Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist, co-authors, ECOpreneuring

Copyright 2020 by Daniel Chiras.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Cover Images iStock.
Printed in Canada. First printing November, 2019.
This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of this book.
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Solar Electricity Basics, Revised Updated 2 nd Edition should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]
L IBRARY AND A RCHIVES C ANADA C ATALOGUING IN P UBLICATION
Title: Solar electricity basics : powering your home or office with solar energy / Dan Chiras.
Names: Chiras, Daniel D., author.
Description: 2nd revised edition. | Includes index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190145528 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190145536 | ISBN 9780865719255 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927184 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771423144 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Photovoltaic power generation-Handbooks, manuals, etc. | LCSH: Solar energy- Handbooks , manuals, etc. | LCGFT: Handbooks and manuals.
Classification: LCC TK10857 .C56 2019 | DDC 621.31/244-dc23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.
Contents
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Solar Electricity
Chapter 2: Understanding the Sun and Solar Energy - Things You Need to Know to Size and Mount a Solar Array
Chapter 3: Understanding Solar Electricity - Types of Modules, How They Are Rated, and Advances in Solar Technology
Chapter 4: Does Solar Electricity Make Sense? Sizing a System and Evaluating Its Cost and Economic Benefits
Chapter 5: Solar Electric Systems: What Are Your Options?
Chapter 6: Understanding Inverters
Chapter 7: Batteries, Charge Controllers, and Gen-Sets
Chapter 8: Mounting a PV Array for Maximum Output
Chapter 9: Final Considerations: Permits, Covenants, Utility Interconnection, and Buying a System
Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to Solar Electricity
T he world is in the midst of a global renewable energy revolution. With installations of new solar and wind energy systems climbing rapidly, nearly 50 countries have pledged to be 100% dependent on renewable energy by 2050. That s no pipe dream. It s highly doable. In fact, researchers at Stanford University project that the world could be 100% reliant on renewables in 20 to 40 years. The technologies and know-how are here, and in many parts of the world, so is the commitment.
Although the United States and Canada are not leading the race to a renewable energy future, significant progress is being made in both countries. In the US, for instance, solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectricity, and geothermal now produce about 17% of the nation s electricity-up from 7 to 8 percent at the beginning of the millennium.
One reason why renewable energy production has increased in recent years in the US is declining cost. Because of this, solar electric systems now consistently generate electricity at or below the cost of power from conventional sources like nuclear power and coal. With federal tax credits that have been in place for over a decade, solar electric systems on homes and businesses consistently produce electricity much cheaper than utilities. Declining costs and rising popularity have led many utilities to install solar and wind farms.
In this book, we will explore solar electric systems, technically known as photovoltaic systems or PV systems, for short. I will primarily present information on residential-scale PV systems-systems suitable for homes and small businesses. These systems generally fall in the range of 1,000 watts for very small, energy-efficient cabins or cottages to 5,000 to 15,000 watts for typical suburban homes. All-electric homes could require even larger systems (on the order of 25,000 watts). Small businesses typically require much larger systems. Before we move on, though, what does it mean when I (or a solar installer) refer to a 10,000-watt system?
Sizing Solar Systems: Understanding Rated Power
Solar electric systems are sized by their wattage. As just noted, a home might require a 10,000-watt system. The wattage rating is known as the rated power of a system. Rated power is also known as rated capacity.
The rated power of a system is the rated power of the modules (frequently, but improperly, referred to as panels ) multiplied by the number of modules in the system. If your system contains ten 300-watt solar modules, its rated power, or capacity, is 3,000 watts. A system with twenty 300-watt modules is rated at 6,000 watts. To simplify matters, installers and other professionals convert watts to kilowatts. So, a 10,000-watt system is a 10-kilowatt (or kW) system. That s a shorthand measure based on the fact that kilo in scientific jargon means 1,000.
But what does it mean when I say a module s rated power is 300 watts?
The rated power of a solar module is the instantaneous output of the module measured in watts under an industry-established set of conditions known as standard test conditions (STC). By carefully controlling the temperature of the modules and the intensity of the light they are exposed to, all manufacturers rate their modules similarly. That way, buyers like you know what they re getting-as do installers and system designers. But what does it really mean that a module is rated at 300 watts?
Of course, most of us are familiar with the term watts. When shopping for light bulbs, for instance, we select them based on wattage. The higher the wattage, the brighter the bulb. We also compare microwave ovens and hair dryers by their wattage. The higher the wattage, the more energy these devices consume. In these and other electronic devices, wattage is a measure of power consumption.
Technically speaking, though, wattage is the rate of the flow of energy. The higher the wattage, the greater the flow. So, a 100-watt incandescent light bulb will use a lot more power each second it operates than a 12-watt LED light.
Watts is also used to rate technologies that produce electricity, such as solar modules or power plants. For example, most solar modules installed these days are rated at 275 to 300 watts. Power plants are rated in millions of watts, or megawatts; a typical coal-fired power plant produces 500 to 1,000 megawatts of power.
To test a solar module to determine its rated power, workers set it up in a room that is maintained at 77 F (25 C). A light is flashed on the module at an intensity of 1,000 watts per square meter. That s equivalent to full sun on a cloudless day in most parts of the world. The module is arranged so that light rays strike it at a 90 angle, that is, perpendicularly. (Light rays striking the module perpendicular to its surface result in the greatest absorption of the light.) A 300-watt module will produce 300 watts of energy under such conditions.
To size a solar electric system, solar installers first determine the size of the system (in watts) a customer needs to meet his or her needs. (I ll explain that process later.) They then divide that number-the rated power of the system-by the rated power of the modules they re going to use. This simple math reveals the number of modules they will need to install. If a customer needs a 9,000-watt system, for instance, he or she would require thirty 300-watt modules.
An Overview of Solar Electric Systems
Now that you understand a little bit about solar system sizing, let s take a look at solar electric systems.
Solar electric systems capture sunlight energy and convert it into electrical energy. This conversion takes place in the solar modules, more common