Hmm, AC Solar Panels?
Normally, a Solar Panel produces DC current. This is the same current that you find in household batteries. Typically, for Solar energy to be put to use, an inverter is used to convert the electricity from DC to AC. And typicaly, 1 very large inverter is used between the solar panel(s) and your home wiring or electrical appliances.
This may begin to change, however, as companies look to create solar panels with built in “microinverters”. Why is this so important? Most importantly, it has the potential to make solar power more accessible to homeowners.
There are some other benefits as well, including:
- Safer – installers are dealing with lower voltages
- Greater performance – experts say that standard solar panels lose performance when one of the solar panels gets shaded, not so with “AC solar panels”
- Gathering data – easier to do on a solar panel with a built in inverter, solar panels can send data along the wires and eventually connected to the web
- Simplicity – consumers could install 1-2 solar panels at a time without having to project how big their final solar power system will be and therefore, a massive inverter ($$$) to support it.
The eventual goal would be for these types of panels to hit stores like Home Depot and Lowes. This enthusiast can only hope that DIY Solar Power becomes mainstream.
