If you are planning to use the solar energy as the source of power supply for your home, then the first thing will have to consider is whether it will be an on grid or off grid.

Let me first explain you what a grid is. The grid is the power utility that you are consuming from the energy. When you are paying the utility bills every month, then it means that you are pulling the utility grid.

If you choose to go for an off grid system, then it will be of much advantage for you. You need not rely on the utility companies for providing the power for your house. You can produce the power yourself at your home and then use that power for your daily needs.

Off grid solar power system is light expensive in both long term and short term. You will have to spend some money on buying the batteries. That too if you are going for off grid ,then battery is very much essential for that because the power you draw will be stored in the batteries. These batteries are quite expensive and need to be replaced after some time of their use.

On grid solar power systems are comparatively cheaper than the off grid systems. There will be no use for the batteries. The only thing you will have to do is to connect the system to the utility grid in your house. That is usually done in the power meter.

One the grid is hooked into the utility grid, then you can get power consistently without any interruption. In some countries there are some better options are also available. You can sell the extra power that you have gained to the local power utility services. This type of work is called the net-metering.

When you do not require the power in day time, the solar panel system will feed the power into the grid. The meter will spin in the backward direction and will show up your credits if the power is not used by you. Also the usage of these grids is very cheap. Many governments are providing tax redemption for the usage of these grids. But these kind of offers are not available in the case of the off grid solar panel systems.

You can use the off grid system in only 2 cases. One is if you want to stay independent with taking into account the finance that you will have to spend for the system. Another one is if you are living in a remote area where you cannot avail the on grid system.