Question: How does solar power from sunlight work? And why are the panels placed on roofing?

Heidi Gardner answered on 7 Nov 2018:

I’ll answer the easier part of your question first – panels are placed on roofing for efficiency reasons. As far as I know (I might be wrong!), they could be place in other areas if we wanted them to be, but having them on the roof is a good use of space. Also, to get the best (the most energy) out of solar panels it’s best to have them fitted at an angle of about 30 degrees which is the angle of a lot of roofing!

Now the more difficult part..
Light from the sun transfers energy to electrons that are on the solar panel – the light particles, called photons, move the electrons so that they are free from the atoms. When the electrons are free from the atoms they have lots of energy that is called direct current (DC) electricity. When all of that energy going through something called an inverter. The inverter is usually placed in the attic of homes just below the roof where the panels are, this inverter then turns DC electricity into alternating current (AC) electricity which is what we can use to power things like lights.

That’s a pretty complicated explanation, so take a look at this video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh6BJ95xldM I found it super helpful when I was trying to answer your question!