Daily Solar Energy Curve, How Solar Power Systems Work throughout the Day?

May 17, 2023

As we all know, the sun does not shine during all hours of the day.

So what does a solar power system do after the sun sets? Does everything just go out?

Not quite.

In this week's blog post, we are examining the three phases of the operation of solar energy systems to the natural course of the day. Due to the advances in the technology used to build these highly complex systems, they can make "intelligent" use of the electricity available at all hours of the day, whether the energy comes from the grid or not.

Morning hours

When the sun rises, the photovoltaic (PV) cells begin to generate an electric current. This initiates a signal to the general power system that panel electricity is available.

The electricity produced by the solar panels will almost always have priority over the electricity coming from the grid.

However, if more energy is required beyond what the solar power generation system can produce, the grid's electricity will be used. Note that this only refers to solar systems "connected to the network", not to "outside the network".

Afternoon hours

As the day progresses, the use of electricity inside the home or business will normally fluctuate. As people leave their homes to go to their jobs or other places, the solar energy system is likely to generate more electricity than is necessary at that time.

When this happens, additional electricity can be stored in capacitors (industrial grade batteries) or it can be sent back to the power company for use by others that are connected to the same power grid.

When electricity is sent "upstream" in this way, the owner of the solar energy equipment used to generate it will often receive credits that can be used to offset the cost of the electricity from the network they consume later.

Evening and night hours

When the sun goes down, photovoltaic cells have no work to do. But that does not mean that the energy generated by the sun stored throughout the day simply disappears.

If there is electricity stored in the capacitors mentioned above, that electricity can be used during the night and night hours, saving extra money to the owner of the system since the nights tend to be windows of energy consumption during maximum audience hours.

Once the capacitors have run out of all their stored energy, the system will reuse electricity from the grid.

As you can see, today's solar power generation system is uniquely designed to take full advantage of the electricity generated by solar energy and the grid.

The results for homeowners and businesses are lower energy bills and greater energy independence: win-win!

To learn more about how you can start saving money as soon as next month, contact Future Green now and inquire about a free energy assessment.

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