A solar PV system consists of these main components 1/ Racking. 2/ Solar panels. 3/ DC Isolator 4/ AC/DC Breaker Box 5/ Inverter. 6/ Mains AC Breaker. Each of these components are broken down below in detail.

 1/ Racking : This is the basis for attaching the solar panels and positioning them at the correct angle so as to suck up as much of the vital solar radiation as possible. Racking is most commonly put on the roof but this doesn't have to be the case, it some circumstances it can be attached to the side of a the house or put on the roof of a shed. Really anything is possible as long as the structure to which the racking is being attached is structurally sound and capable of carrying the weight of the racking and the panels. See here for further info.

 2/ Solar Panels : These are Silicon panels which fit onto the racking and are responsible for converting the sunlight into electricity. The electricity produced is in the form of Direct Current or DC power.

 3/ Dc Isolator : This is simply an isolator switch which allows electrical workers to isolate the Direct Current, in some systems there can be more than one of these depending on how many solar panels are needed in the system.

 4/ Ac/DC Breaker Box : This is a breaker which allows an electrical worker to isolate all of the electrical DC current coming from the solar panels from reaching the Inverter.

5/ Inverter : This is a very important piece of electrical equipment which is responsible for turning the Direct Current into Alternating Current. Most of the appliances in our house operate on Alternating Current and so it is crucial that the Direct Current from the solar panels is converted to alternating current. It also allows the solar panels to feed excess power into the grid which means that we can receive money for the excess power that we don't use.

 6/ Mains Ac Breaker : Once the power has been inverted to Alternating Current it is fed through to the mains AC breaker which is housed inside your switchboard for the house. This is the final destination before the power becomes indistinguishable from the grid electricity coming off the lines in the street.

Click here to view an animated diagram of this courtesy of BP Solar.