E
arth Day - Birthday! On April 22, 1970, the Earth Day movement began with a demonstration of twenty million environmentally conscience individuals. They were concerned about pollution; the effects on one’s health and the environment. Today, the event inspires rallies of over a billion people from more than 190 countries worldwide. There is growing global awareness of how our daily decisions and behaviours affect the environment. Many people volunteer for community cleanups, reduce their plastic waste, conserve water, drive less, shop local, shop sustainable, and have adopted a renewable energy action plan. The renewable energy sector is projected to surpass fossil fuels as the largest global source of electricity by 2025! Funding for solar is now available through the Canada Greener Homes Grant. Viridian Energy Co-operative explains how solar energy systems work. Empower your future, go solar!
are not required for grid-tie systems. Electricity generated by solar is first used on site with the excess sent back to BC Hydro. The utility acts as storage and through BC Hydro’s net metering program, a user earns energy credits for the electricity fed back to the grid. These systems only work while connected to the grid.
GOING SOLAR How it Works
Batteries store energy that can be used when the grid goes down. Battery inverter/charger converts the battery DC electricity to the AC electricity used for household appliances and allows batteries to run while separated from the grid.
HOW IS SOLAR POWER GENERATED? Solar power is generated by photovoltaic cells, these cells convert sunlight to electricity in the form of Direct Current (DC) that is then passed through an inverter. This inverter turns the DC electricity into Alternating Current (AC) electricity. AC is what is used to power electrical lights and other household
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2. Grid-tie with battery backup systems have the same core components as grid-tie systems while adding batteries, battery inverter/charger, a dedicated loads panel and an optional generator for when the power goes out. This adds resiliency and security to the system.
appliances. According to the International Energy Agency, solar power is now the fastest growing source of power in the world. The three most common solar power systems are Grid-tie, Grid-tie with battery backup and
Off-grid. 1. Grid-tie systems are grid connected solar power systems. Grid-tie systems provide a portion or all of a user’s electricity needs. They are a good investment to offset electrical costs. Batteries
Dedicated loads panel ensures power goes to only the essential places during a power outage (e.g. lights, fridge/freezer), conserving battery power. Generator, this can also be added to the system to top up batteries if the power is out for extended periods of time or if there are larger loads. 3. Off-grid systems have a
