How solar works

Flip the switches to see where your power comes from — and why a brownout affects on-grid and hybrid systems differently.

A home by day with labeled solar panels, inverter, battery and grid connection, a hybrid system running normally.

Home has power

Daytime, grid on

Your panels power the house first. Spare energy charges the battery, and any extra can flow to the grid (where the utility's rules allow). If the sun is not enough, the grid tops up.

Select a part of the diagram

Solar panels

Panels turn sunlight into direct-current (DC) electricity. Output rises and falls with the sun, and drops with shade, dirt, heat and cloud. They produce nothing at night.

Simplified for learning. Real systems differ in wiring, settings, and how surplus power is handled. Whether a hybrid system powers your whole home or only selected circuits during a brownout depends on its design.