Real Star Power

I started implementing the solar power system I had planned to setup at the beginning of this year last June 1st, meaning to cover an entire month of generating electricity by harnessing the power of the sun. The setup is simple... a solar panel capable of driving at least 14 volts of DC current into the grid tie inverter I bought a few months back. The inverter converts the direct current (DC) into 220v of alternating current (AC) that is then plugged into a wall outlet of the house. The inverter syncs itself with the house current and pumps in the electricity generated by the solar panel. This adds to the electricity running through the house, cutting down on power that we would normally draw from the power company (grid) with renewable and cleaner (not to mention inexhaustible) energy from the sun.

The panel I bought is 50w with polycrystalline cells sold at the local CDR-King store. The make of the panel is excellent, it has an aluminum frame, the cells are laminated onto tempered glass (which has an average wind rating of 50mph) and a waterproof terminal block to boot. It has blocking diodes installed so no current goes back to mess up the panel.  It has the standard 36 cell layout, and generates on average 18.6 volts of DC. This is the first of many panels that I need in order to maximize the inverter's rated capacity of 250 watts.

Since this was more of a "testing the theory" phase, I just placed the panel on top of a monobloc chair making sure it does not slide off, and hooked it up to the inverter. In the mornings I bring it out to catch the sun during the day and then bring it inside when the sun goes down.  This will be the norm for the next thirty days until I get a copy of the monthly bill from the power company and see if this solar setup will deliver savings. 

If all goes well, I'll be saving up to buy additional panels upto what the inverter can handle, and plan to mount it more permanently on the roof of the house. This way I won't have to keep bringing it in and out of the house.  This technology has been around for decades so my outlook towards it is positive. I mean thousands of people already using it can't be wrong.