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What is Solar PV?

Solar PV is the abbreviated name for solar photovoltaic (photo meaning light, and voltaic meaning power) – a system of turning natural daylight into energy through photovoltaic panels.

Panels are made from large wafers of crystallised silicon. The silicon absorbs daylight and the energy captured is converted into usable power for your home. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not purely about sunlight - the panels produce electricity from daylight, so they can still work on cloudy days. Quite handy when you live in Scotland.

When renewable energy technology was originally introduced, it was very expensive and not widely adopted. Grant schemes were unfairly distributed and difficult to secure. This changed in April 2010, when the government introduced the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) initiative, designed to encourage people to invest in green technology.

Under the Feed-in Tariff initiative you will be paid for every unit of electricity you generate, whether you use it or not. However it is only available to people whose system has been fitted by an MCS-accredited installer like CR Smith.

How Solar PV works

It can all sound very complicated and technical. So in our expert opinion, we thought it best to lay everything out simply, so you can see at a glance how it all works.

Solar PV panels absorb light from the sun
An electrical inverter converts the low voltage DC generated power into useable 240v AC, suitable for domestic use
This renewable electricity is fed through a generation meter so that you can claim the government-funded Feed-in Tariff
Your electricity can then be used to power your home
Any electricity you don’t use can be sold to the National Grid, earning you extra money.