How Containerless Solar Works

Solar panels generate electricity for your home. Energy is used directly within the home for appliances and devices. Excess energy is stored in a battery or managed by a smart inverter. No surplus energy is sent back to the grid (zero export). Stored energy is used when solar production is low (e.g., at night or on cloudy days).

Concentrated solar power (CSP) works similarly to solar hot water in that it transforms sunlight into heat—but it doesn't stop there. CSP technology concentrates solar thermal energy using mirrors and turns it into electricity. At a CSP installation, mirrors reflect the sun to a focal point.

Solar hot water systems capture thermal energy from the sun and use it to heat water for your home. These systems consist of several major components: collectors, a storage tank, a heat exchanger, a controller system, and a backup heater. In a solar hot water system, there's no movement of electrons, and no creation of electricity.

Instead, the solar panels, known as "collectors," transform solar energy into heat. Sunlight passes through a collector's glass covering, striking a component called an absorber plate, which has a coating designed to capture solar energy and convert it to heat.

Solar inverters convert DC electricity into AC electricity, the electrical current appliances run on when plugged into a standard wall socket. Other types of solar technology include solar hot water and concentrated solar power. They both use the sun's energy but work differently than traditional solar panels.

If you have a grid-tied solar energy system, electricity can run both to and from the power grid. If you live in an area with net metering, you can even earn electric bill credits from your utility company when you send excess electricity to the grid.