Solar Collectors -Generate Your Own Electricity

Lock in your cost of electricity - The higher the percent of your total electricity needs generated by your solar system, the less affected you will be by constantly rising costs of conventionally generated electric power.
Obtain tax credits and rebates - Tax credits and rebates are available in many states to people and business who install solar powered products.   and tax credit information in your area.
Feed power back to the utility - In many states, you can send your home-generated power back to the utility and get credit for the power that you feed into the utility grid.
Generate green power - Generate electricity with energy from the sun, wind or water, producing virtually no pollution or emissions.
Gain power independence - With the use of batteries and possibly a generator as needed, you can rely on your own generating capacity, and not on the vagaries of public utilities.
Ensure uninterrupted power - With a battery backup system, you can keep your appliances running during utility power outages.
No moving parts! - Solar electricity is the only form of energy generation that does not involve any moving part, substantially decreasing maintenance requirements and increasing reliability and long equipment life.

For decades, off-grid-stand alone power systems not connected to utility electric transmission lines have generated power using solar energy for remote homes, communications facilities, telemetry, traffic control, public transportation, remote mining and drilling and scores of other applications.  Now, people who live on the utility grid can economically install and obtain the benefits of solar and renewable energy systems.

Off-Grid-Stand Alone Power System

This type of power system is independent of the utility grid.  It can use solar modules, a wind generator, a micro-hydroelectric generator, or a combination of any or all to produce your electric power.  Owners of this type of system often use a gas or diesel generator for backup when the power system does not meet all of the needs.

Off-Grid System

A grid-tie system with battery backup feeds excess solar electricity to the grid and provides backup power when the utility grid is down.  With this type of system you sacrifice some power generation efficiency in exchange for having power when there is a utility power failure.  The amount of backup power you have depends on the size of the battery and electrical loads that draw on them.

Grid-Tie System with Backup

Also called grid-interactive, grid-intertie, utility-interconnected and other such descriptive terms, grid-tie solar systems built onto your building and property that connect directly into the electric utility feed.  This is possible in areas that allow net metering, whereby a solar or wind powered system turns your electric meter backwards when it is producing more power than you are using.  This type of system provides no backup power when utility power fails.

Grid-Tie System (or Net Metering)

Power systems vary in design depending on what energy sources are used and what purpose they must fulfill.

Solar - Generate Your Own Electricity
Types of Power Systems