Solar Electricity Concepts Explained

Electricity is defined as the flow of electrical power or charge and one of our most widely used forms of energy. The consumption of electrical energy by homes and small businesses is usually measured in kilowatt-hours, a term you will want to become familar with to understand solar. We use the term kilowatt-hour (symbolized kWh) as the unit equivalent to one kilowatt (1 kW) of power used in one hour (1 h) of time. As a comparison, a kilowatt can be thought of as a mile, and a kilowatt-hour can be thought of as traveling in miles per hour (mph). Visit our Solar Glossary for more information.

Larger businesses and institutions sometimes use the megawatt-hour (MWh). The energy outputs of large power plants over long periods of time, or the energy consumption of states or nations, can be expressed in gigawatt hours.

The blended cost (your total annual electric cost ÷ annual kWh usage) of just one kilowatt-hour is about $0.17. The New Jersey Clean Energy Program estimates that average residential and commercial customers use 8,386 kWh per year and 80,287 kWh per year respectively. You can find your annual use listed on your electric bill.

To see a short movie of how solar panels work to produce electricity, click here.