Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels generate power by converting the energy from sunlight into electricity. Solar panels comprise of many, smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.) This electricity is generated as a direct current (dc) and needs to be converted to alternating current which is what the appliances in the home operate on. The conversion from dc current to ac current is done by means of an inverter, which is a component that forms part of the solar power system installation.

The wind affects your solar panel system in two ways. The wind load affects the distance from the roof at which the solar panels must be mounted, and this in turn can have an mpact on the number of panels you can put on the roof and the system capacity. Excessive wind loads can result in your solar panels and roof being damaged or torn off from their roof mountings. Therefore, it is very important to have your solar system appropriately designed for the excessive wind conditions that may occur in your area. A professional solar installer will be able to design an appropriate system for the wind loads. 

Secondly, the wind has a cooling effect on your solar panels and this will help with increasing the solar panel efficiency. The hotter the environmental temperature, the lower the panel efficiency and the amount of energy generated.

Solar panel shading simply means that the sunlight is blocked from reaching a part of your solar panels resulting in a shadow falling on that panel. Shading is an often under-estimated factor that can have a high impact on the power generation performance of your solar panels and should be thoroughly considered for all times of the year. Shading can occur from nearby trees, buildings, chimneys or even antenna. Steps should be taken to reduce the shading (e.g. trimming or cutting of trees) or no panels should be located in the shaded areas.

Going off-grid with solar panels is possible but it currently comes at a very high, if not prohibitive cost. For you to go off-grid with solar, you need to have sufficient space for the the solar panels to be able to supply your property’s energy demands. You also need sufficient storage in the form of batteries for night-time consumption and for days when the whether reduces the production of your solar panels e.g. on overcast or rainy days. Alternatively, you will need to have a back-up system such as a diesel generator for non-productive days.

As long as there is sunlight, your solar panels will continue to produce electricity in the form of a dc current. However, depending on the type of solar system you have on your property, you may or may not be able to use this electricity. Most businesses and homes have got grid-tied system, which have the best business case. During load shedding, the inverters are programmed to shut off for safety purposes so that they to not feed electricity back in the grid while grid personnel might be working on the system un-aware. In order to use the power from your panels, you will need to have an on-grid micro-grid, which includes battery back-up or generators and special control systems which essentially ‘fool’ the inverters into ‘seeing’ a live grid and staying operational.

You will still receive an electricity bill form the municipality or Eskom after installing solar panels because you will still likely be consuming electricity from the grid during low-production times and at night. Only in cases that you have completely gone off-grid and disconnected your electricity supply from your utility will you not receive a bill.

Solar panels do not require a lot of maintenance and the occasional required cleaning is a low-cost exercise.  In order to get the best performance from your solar panels, they need to be kept free from dust and other fouling systems such as bird dropping that tend to accumulate on them over time. This can be done easily with an occasional hosing down of the solar panels with water in order to keep them dirt-free.