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Why are LG’s NeON® R ACe solar panels referred to as “AC” panels?
Solar panels produce electricity that can be used by many home appliances. Before that electricity can be used in homes, however, it has to pass through an inverter. Why?
Electricity can be generated in two usable forms: Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC). That’s how the name of the famous rock band was born – guitarist Angus Young’s sister had a sewing machine labeled AC/DC.
Direct Current indicates an electric current that flows in a circuit in only one direction. Alternating Current occurs when the electric current changes direction periodically. The voltage (what makes electric charges move, also known as the electromotive force, or EMF) reverses periodically, causing the direction changes of Alternating Current.
Alternating Current is the electricity used on a community’s electrical grid (the power system network that includes the generating plant, the transmission lines, the substation, transformers, the distribution lines and the consumers of electricity, including homes). It is also the electricity required by most household appliances and devices.
Solar panels, however, produce power in the form of Direct Current.
What does this mean for your solar energy system?
DC power must be converted into AC electricity in order to be used in your home. That’s why every solar system includes one or more inverters at the end of a string of solar panels – or microinverters built onto the back of each panel. The inverter – or microinverters – transform Direct Current into the Alternating Current fed into your home.
Solar panels that do not have microinverters produce DC electricity that is sent through wires to an inverter (usually located in your garage or a similar space) before being fed into your home. AC panels, such as the NeON® R ACe, produce AC electricity on the roof, beneath each solar panel, where their built-in microinverters are located. The energy is then fed directly into your home.
Direct Current is how electrical energy is transferred to and from batteries. So, if you have an Energy Storage System (ESS) as a part of your Solar System, your solar panels feed Direct Current into your ESS battery, where it is stored for later use. When the battery discharges power to your home, the electric current first passes through the inverter, which converts it into AC.
This all might sound a little confusing. To make it more clear, we’ve laid out the facts about Alternating Current and Direct Current (as well as some of the history behind their development) in this 1-page flyer.
A local LG PRO installer can help you figure out whether an AC or DC solar panel will work best for your project. If you fill out this form, we’ll have one of our installation partners contact you.
