Solar panels act like a mini power station on your roof.
Solar panels are made from Silicon and are designed to work from daylight and not sunlight. Indeed, panels installed by the big green company would not work in sunny Spain as the panels do not work above 25oC.
To see how your solar panels generate solar energy and in turn electricity, we have included the following diagram. Daylight hits the panels and produces an electrical current. The current is then converted or 'inverted' from a high voltage current to a lower voltage suitable to be used in the home.
The electricity generated then flows through your generation meter, which records how many units your system has generated. The amount of units generated is then multiplied by 41.3p to give you your feed-in-tariff income.
Any electricity produced by your Solar PV system is used in the home. The reason for this is due to your current coming off your roof at a slightly higher voltage than that coming into your home. Any excess energy then flows into the national grid.
