Solar System Basics

Sections in this chapter

1. 1.1 A system has only three core components
2. 1.1.1 What "panel wattage" actually means
3. 1.1.2 Why winter and summer production differ so much
4. 1.2 Essential glossary (so the sales pitch doesn't lose you)
5. 1.3 Grid-tied vs off-grid vs hybrid — which one fits
6. 1.4 Microinverter vs hybrid inverter (which fits your roof)
7. 1.5.1 The basics
8. 1.5.2 Battery form factors
9. 1.5.3 Battery safety
10. 1.6 Inverter and battery: garage versus outdoor placement
11. 1.7 During an outage, does solar automatically keep the house running?
12. 1.8.1 Battery life is longer than you think
13. 1.8.2 Solar panels last a very long time
14. 1.8.3 Solar systems aren't fragile
15. 1.8.4 Don't measure system size in "number of panels"
16. 1.8.5 Adding a battery is usually unnecessary