Solar 101
How does residential solar work?
Residential solar converts sunlight into the same kind of AC electricity you already use, then routes it through your existing breaker panel. When the sun is up, the system powers your home directly. When you produce more than you use, the extra flows to the grid (in net-metered states) or charges a battery (if you have one). When the sun is down, you pull from the grid or your battery.
There are five physical components on a typical install. None of them have moving parts. The whole system is designed to last 25 years on the roof with zero homeowner maintenance.
The five components on the roof and inside the wall
- Solar panels — tier-1 monocrystalline modules. Photons knock electrons off the silicon, producing direct current (DC) electricity.
- Inverter — converts DC to alternating current (AC), which is what your home uses. Either one central string inverter or many microinverters mounted under each panel.
- Racking + flashing — the aluminum rails that hold the panels and the watertight roof penetrations underneath.
- Monitoring — Wi-Fi gateway that reports per-panel production to an app on your phone.
- Optional battery — Tesla Powerwall or Enphase IQ Battery 5P, sized to back up your home through outages or shift power off-peak.
Where the power goes, in order
When sun hits the array, the system follows a fixed priority order that you don't have to think about — the inverter and meter handle it automatically.
- Your home's running loads (lights, AC, fridge) consume the production directly.
- Anything left over charges the battery, if you have one.
- Anything still left over flows back to the utility grid through your meter.
- When production drops below load (cloud, sunset, peak HVAC), the home pulls from the battery first, then the grid.
Net metering vs. self-consumption
If your utility offers net metering, the kilowatt-hours you export carry a credit on your next bill. Some utilities credit at the full retail rate (1-for-1), others at a lower wholesale or avoided-cost rate. Texas in particular varies by city and utility, so the economics shift.
If you don't have net metering, batteries become much more valuable: you store your daytime surplus and use it at night instead of selling it back at a discount.
What the install actually looks like
Most residential installs take a single day on the roof. A typical Texas system is 8-12 kW (around 20-32 panels), depending on home size and energy use. From contract signed to system turned on (Permission to Operate, or PTO), expect 3-8 weeks — the time is mostly waiting on permits, inspection, and utility approval, not the install itself.
Common questions
Frequently asked
- Do solar panels work when the power goes out?
- Standard grid-tied systems shut down during a grid outage to protect utility line workers. To keep your home powered through outages you need a battery (Tesla Powerwall or Enphase IQ Battery 5P) that islands your house from the grid.
- Do panels need direct sun to produce?
- No. Panels produce on cloudy days too — typically 10-25% of clear-day output depending on cloud thickness. Diffuse light still excites the silicon, just less efficiently.
- Will solar work on my roof?
- South-facing pitches are best, but east and west also produce well. North-facing pitches and heavy shade are the only true non-starters. Aurora 3D modeling shows exactly which panels make sense before you sign anything.