Photovoltaics (or PV) is a method of using sunshine to make electricity. This is very popular in the Denver area mostly because any excess solar electricity made from your panels can be sold back to the power company! Solar PV systems have some other advantages over solar thermal systems such as the slimmer size of a PV panel compared to a solar thermal panel. The space PV takes up in your house is only a small inverter that can be mounted outside. This inverter converts the DC power from the roof to AC power for your devices and sells back any leftover power to the grid. The main disadvantage of these systems is the cost to store the energy. Once the sun goes down, power has to be stored using batteries which can be costly. Most people forgo that expense which means using a combination of solar power and traditional electricity. Because of the high cost of using and maintaining storage batteries, solar thermal systems, which store heat in a tank, provide a quicker return on your solar energy investment.


The ability to keep these thin panels flat to the roof and not hinder performance makes PV systems ideal in low profile situations.