Keith Knowles: Hi! My name is Keith Knowles with LiveLight Energy. I am a licensed Solar Contractor and an authorized installer for SolarWorld, America's largest manufacturer of PV Panels. I am here to help you learn how to incorporate solar electricity into your home. And today we are going to learn about a PV or a Solar Electric System and see how it works. Let's go, find out more. A Solar Electric System converts sunlight directly into electricity that you can use in your home or put back on the grid. The basic technology used in the solar panel is called photovoltaic or PV. Even on cloudy days, a PV System is still working just at a proportionately reduced level. Most people stay connected to the utility grid and reduce their electric bills through net metering which we'll talk more about later. So you don't need to worry about batteries or what to do at night.

A Solar PV System is made up of three components; first, the solar panels. A typical system on a home will require 6 to 30 of these panels. The next is an inverter. It's important to select a high quality inverter that is sized to run the panels properly. And lastly is a good racking system that is designed specifically for solar electric systems. Unless you happen to be an electrician, you may not be installing these systems yourself, but it's important to understand what parts and pieces go into a system, so that you can evaluate bids and make good decisions.