Well, sunlight is converted into electricity through photovoltaic (PV) technology.
The simple explanation of this is that sunlight interacts with semiconductor materials in the PV cell to free electrons and produce an electric current.
What's that?
You want a more sophisticated scientific explanation of solar power involving photons, electromagnetic radiation, and Alessandro Volta?
Well just hold your horses, for now we're going to look at how these mysterious panels could work for you.
See, the sunlight hits your pv panel and frees up some electrons.
These electrons follow the wiring to your charge controller which regulates the voltage for your batteries.
Then when you need to use your toaster the current goes from the battery to the inverter where it is converted from DC power to the AC power your toaster needs.
See, it's all coming together.
Oh, and why do we need the grounding?
That's so our beautiful solar electric panels don't get fried due to lightning, line surges, or unintentional contact with higher voltage lines.
Is solar power starting to make a little more sense?