Intro to Solar

Have questions about solar? You're not alone. Read on for a brief overview of how solar can save you money, how solar energy works, and how amazing the sun really is.

How solar energy works

Sunshine becomes electricity

When sunshine hits a solar panel, the solar cells that make up the panel transform light into direct current (DC) electricity. This is known as the photovoltaic effect.

Raw electricity becomes energy you can use

An inverter turns direct current (DC) electricity made by the panels into the alternating current (AC) electricity that your home needs. Enphase Microinverters do this at each panel, ensuring you get more power from the same panels than other types of inverters.

Your solar energy meets the public utility grid

The solar energy your home creates powers your family’s electrical usage. When the sun isn’t providing any power for your panels (like at night), your utility provides you with electricity. During the day, if your system is creating more power than your home needs, the extra energy goes into your utility’s power grid.

Some amazing facts about the Sun

Hot topic

In the centre of our sun, it is about 15 million degrees Celsius, or 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. The energy produced by the Sun is equal to the explosion of 100,000,000,000 tons of dynamite every second.

Middle-aged?

Although the Sun is approximately 4.567 billion years old, it has only reached middle age. About four billion years from now, the Sun will transform into a red giant star, becoming large enough to possibly swallow up the Earth. Don’t worry – 4 billion years is a long, long time.

Plenty of power

If you add up every bit of oil and gas that humans have ever used for energy, the total is less than 30 days of energy reaching the Earth's surface from the Sun.

Midnight sun

Near the North and South Poles, the Sun doesn’t set for six months at a time. This is due to the Earth orbiting on a tilted axis - at an angle of 23.5 degrees. The Midnight Sun, as is this known, occurs between March and September at the North Pole, and between September and March at the South Pole.