JARGON EXPLAINED
I know when we began to research this topic we were 'bamboozled' by a lot of the terminology. Here, we try to help you undertsand what we mean when we say 'pure sine inverter' and the likes! We put it in laymens' terms.
Kilowatt (kw) 1,000 watts. A 100 watt lightbulb will use up one kilowatt in 10 hours. An average kettle has a 2kw element. If allowed to work for a whole hour it would use up 2kw or around 14 centimes worth with vat. PV Photo Voltaic or the use of sunlight to create volts/energy Grid Tied Connecting a PV system to the national grid. Thus selling power back to EDF. We would like you to have a system whereby what you use and sell back will mean you no longer pay for electricity. Off grid A system not connected to national grid. A bit cheaper but not really the done thing in Europe. Normally seen in homes that are very remote and store power as opposed to selling on the surplus. Inverter The unit that tranforms the power produced by your panels to power that can be used/recognised by your household appliances and the surplus is then sold to EDF Charge controller If you store the power in batteries this appliance ensures that you don't overload the batteries. Batteries that store solar power don't like to get too much OR too little charge. This does that job Pure sine The type of 'energy waves' that EDF supply to you so they want the same back if you are thinking about selling power to them. Inverters to this job. AC Alternating current or what most of us use in the home DC Direct current or the sort of power we use in the car. Thus a 12 volt battery is the norm. PV Cell The small black shapes (squares normally) in a panel that produce the power in DC form. These are joined by soldering to form a 'string' and add together the power produced to give a panel 'output'. ie if one cells produces 2 watts and we make 7 strings of 12 we get 168 watts per panel. 7 x 12 x 2 = =168. Thus 6 of these are rquired for you to produce a 1,008watt (1kw) system PV Panel The large black, glazed oblong shapes full of PV cells. Also called modules Array A group of PV panels/modules joined together to give a united power output Rack The framework required to group the panels together and fix them firmly to a roof. Also fixed at ground level if the roof faces the wrong way and there is nothing to cause shadows Deep cycle The best type of battery for stpring power for use when daylight is no longer available. They hold more amp hours and last longer if they are not over or under charged. They can be dangerous to store due to the gases given off. They are also very heavy, expensive and add to toxic wastes once their lifespan is reached. We know how it looks but it is not a designer handbag. And yes....some handbags do weigh more we agree!
MORE TO COME SOON..
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