Learning Center
Solar Basics
How rooftop solar works, what each component does, and what actually happens on a Texas home from contract to permission to operate.
Rooftop solar is simpler than the sales process makes it look. Panels turn sunlight into DC electricity, an inverter converts it to the AC your house uses, and anything you don't use flows back through your meter.
The four parts of a home system
Almost every residential installation is built from the same four pieces, regardless of brand.
- Modules (panels): rated in watts, typically 400-450W each
- Inverter: string inverter, microinverters, or optimizers plus a central unit
- Racking and attachments: bolted to rafters and flashed to prevent leaks
- Monitoring and metering: production data plus a bidirectional utility meter
What happens to power you don't use
In Texas there is no statewide net metering law. Exported energy is credited by your municipal utility or your retail electric provider's buyback plan, at whatever rate that plan specifies. This single fact drives most of the difference between a good and bad Texas solar deal.
What a grid-tied system does in an outage
It shuts off. Inverters are required to disconnect during a grid outage so power doesn't flow onto lines crews are working on. Only a system with a battery and an islanding gateway keeps your house energized.