The federal government, states and municipalities have good reasons to provide incentives to businesses for undertaking solar energy projects. Solar and other renewable energy sources: reduce our dependence on oil; reduce the amount of pollutants going into the air; and can reduce the need to build other types of power facilities and power transmission lines.

Other notable benefits of solar energy solutions are that they reach peak production during midday periods, which are also the periods of highest demand, they operate silently, and they last for a long time (>25 years).

To understand how a solar energy system works, you first have to know about the basic component: the photovoltaic (PV) or solar cell. Each small solar cell is made of semiconductor materials that convert sunlight directly to electricity. The direct current electricity produced by solar cells needs to be converted to alternating current electricity before it can be delivered to the electrical grid. That is the job of a part called the inverter.

When solar cells are connected to each other, their electricity production increases. So cells are connected together to form modules, which can then be connected to form arrays. The arrays in turn can be interconnected to produce more power. In this way, PV systems are built to meet a wide range of power requirements.