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Solar Basics

Enough to answer a question honestly — and to know when not to

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What this covers

Four short modules: how sunlight becomes household electricity, what the equipment actually does, what drives the price, and the environmental case stated without inflation. Written for homeowners weighing it up and for connectors who want to answer a question at a counter without guessing.

Total reading

About 78 minutes

Modules

4 lessons

Cost

Free, no sign-up

Start here: what happens to the extra power

Almost everyone assumes surplus solar is either wasted or means going off-grid. Neither is true, and understanding why makes every other number on this page easier to read.

How net metering worksSunlight hits rooftop panels, which produce direct current. An inverter converts it to alternating current for the house. When the panels make more than the house is using, the surplus flows out through a two-way meter to the grid and is credited. When they make less, power flows back in from the grid the usual way.Your homeTwo-way meterThe gridsurplus, crediteddrawn back when needed
Panels produce direct current; an inverter turns it into the alternating current your house actually uses. On a bright afternoon they often make more than you are using — that surplus doesn't go to waste, it flows back out through a meter that runs in both directions and is credited to your account. At night, or under heavy cloud, you draw from the grid the ordinary way. You stay connected the whole time. How that credit is calculated is set by policy, not by us, and the rules differ across DC, Maryland and Virginia — worth asking about for your own address.

How Solar Works

Sunlight to electricity, direct current to the sockets in your house, and what happens to the power you do not use.

Topics covered

  • The photovoltaic effect
  • Inverters and AC
  • Net metering
  • Cloudy days and night

Learning outcomes

  • Explain in plain words how sunlight becomes household electricity
  • Name the parts of a system and say what each one does
  • Answer the "what happens to the extra power?" question correctly
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Technology Explained

Panel types, inverter choices, how orientation and shade actually behave, and what a battery does and does not do.

Topics covered

  • Monocrystalline, polycrystalline, thin film
  • String inverters, microinverters, optimizers
  • Orientation and shade
  • Batteries and outages

Learning outcomes

  • Read an equipment list on a proposal without being lost
  • Judge roughly how orientation and shade affect a roof
  • Know why a grid-tied system without a battery goes dark in an outage

Reads best after How Solar Works. Nothing is locked — read them in whatever order suits you.

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Cost & Financing

What actually drives the price, how ownership options differ, and the honest current state of incentives.

Topics covered

  • What drives price
  • Cash, loan, lease, PPA
  • Federal credit status
  • State and utility programs

Learning outcomes

  • Understand which choices move the price and which barely do
  • Tell ownership apart from third-party ownership, and why it matters
  • Know why no page should quote you an incentive percentage from memory
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Environmental Impact

The emissions case, honestly stated — including manufacturing, end of life, and what we cannot calculate for you.

Topics covered

  • Displaced emissions
  • Manufacturing and payback
  • End of life
  • Local grid effects

Learning outcomes

  • State the environmental case without overclaiming
  • Answer the "but manufacturing them is dirty" objection fairly
  • Recognise which environmental numbers depend entirely on local grid mix

Reads best after How Solar Works. Nothing is locked — read them in whatever order suits you.

Read

Where to go next

Estimate a system

Rough size, cost, and payback from your bill

Questions and answers

The long list, plus a glossary of the jargon

Help your neighbours

Put clear information where people already are. Read the field guide first.