Residential Solar — Solar 101

Solar 101 — The Basics

Before sizing a system or comparing quotes, you need a working model of how solar actually functions. This section covers the essentials — no physics degree required.

How Solar Panels Generate Electricity

Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells — materials (usually silicon) that release electrons when struck by photons of light. Those moving electrons create direct current (DC) electricity (a steady one-way flow of power, like water through a pipe).

Your home runs on alternating current (AC) (power that rapidly switches direction — this is what comes out of your wall outlets), so the DC output from the panels flows into an inverter (a wall-mounted box that converts the panel's DC power into the AC power your appliances need), which converts it to usable AC power. That's the entire chain at its simplest:

Sunlight → Panels (DC) → Inverter (AC) → Your loads

Everything else in a solar system — batteries, meters, monitoring — builds on top of this core flow.

Key Terms You Need to Know

Term	What It Means
kW (kilowatt)	Power — how much your system can produce at peak. A 5 kW system outputs 5,000 watts under ideal conditions.
kWh (kilowatt-hour)	Energy — what you actually consume and what Meralco bills you for. Running a 1 kW load for 1 hour = 1 kWh.
kWp (kilowatt-peak)	The rated maximum output of your solar panels under Standard Test Conditions (STC — a lab setting with ideal sunlight and temperature). This is the number used in system sizing.
Peak Sun Hours (PSH)	Hours of equivalent full sunlight per day. The Philippines averages 4.5–5.5 PSH depending on location and season.

PSH vs. hours of daylight

The sun shines for 10–12 hours a day in the Philippines, but not all of that is full intensity. PSH is a normalized figure — a 4.5 PSH day means the total solar energy received equals 4.5 hours at peak (1,000 W/m²). This is what you use when calculating expected daily output.

The 4 Core Components

Complete hybrid solar system layout — from rooftop panels down to your home loads, battery, grid connection, EV charger, and Home Assistant monitoring. Color-coded wires show the flow of power through the system.

1. Solar Panels — Convert sunlight to DC electricity. Rated in watts (W) or kilowatts-peak (kWp). Most residential panels today are monocrystalline, ranging 400–600 W each.

2. Inverter — Converts DC to AC and is effectively the brain of the system. It handles MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking — the inverter's built-in optimizer that squeezes maximum power from your panels), grid sync, safety shutdowns, and monitoring. The inverter type largely determines your system's capabilities.

3. Battery (optional) — Stores excess solar energy for use at night or during brownouts. Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) is the standard chemistry for residential use today.

4. Meter / Grid Connection — How your system interfaces with the utility. Either a net metering setup (energy flows both ways — you sell excess power back to Meralco) or a zero-export limiter (a device that automatically throttles your system so no power goes back to the grid).

Most PH residential is single-phase 230V

Philippine homes are almost universally on single-phase 230V. This matters when selecting inverters — most residential inverters are single-phase. Three-phase setups are typically for commercial/industrial installations.

Energy Flow Diagram

How energy flows through your solar system — from sunlight to panels to inverter, then split between your home loads, battery storage, and the grid.

During the day, solar covers your loads first. Excess charges the battery (if present) or exports to the grid. At night, the home draws from battery or imports from the grid.

System Types Overview

Three main configurations exist for residential solar. The right one depends on your goals and budget — see the Decision Matrix for a structured comparison.

Type	Battery	Grid Connection	Brownout Backup	Typical Use Case
Grid-Tied	No	Yes	No	Lowest cost, bill reduction only
Hybrid	Yes	Yes	Yes	Most popular PH residential choice
Off-Grid	Yes	No	Yes (fully independent)	Remote areas, no grid access

Grid-Tied is the cheapest entry point but leaves you without power during brownouts (the inverter shuts down automatically — this is a safety feature called anti-islanding that protects utility workers repairing lines nearby). Hybrid adds a battery for backup and energy independence. Off-Grid is sized to cover 100% of your needs — battery banks are large and costs are highest.

Start here if you're overwhelmed

Most homeowners in Metro Manila and urban areas choose hybrid — it covers brownouts, reduces the bill, and the battery pays for itself over time. Off-grid is rarely needed unless you're in a barangay with unreliable grid access.

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