Grid-tied Solar Electric Systems, also known as on-grid, grid-connected, or grid-intertied photovoltaic systems, generate electricity for your home or business and route the excess power into the electric utility grid.
Grid-Tie System
A grid-tie system is where PVs are tied directly into the home’s electrical system (nobatteries!), and any excess electrical production runs into the utility.
This is the simplest and least expensive way to use PVs. You'll be providing local power to your utility when the sun shines and displacing fossil fuel the utility would otherwise have had to generate. (On the downside, however, in the event of a utility power outage you will still lose power.)
You will need the following components for a grid-tie system:
The PV array to convert sunlight into electricity. Larger modules are normally cheaper in terms of cost per watt.
Module mounts (typically on a roof) that are oriented to face south east.
An inverter to change DC electricity generated by the PVs to 120V/240V AC electricity used by the utility.
A safety switch so the utility can shut off your system in case of an emergency. This is for your safety and the safety of utility workers.
Some systems offer remote controls to monitor the performance of your PV array. They can also be useful in isolating problems with the system.
