The topic of this thesis I got from Riihilahti farm when the farm in 2016 took part in a joint acquisition of solar electricity. The joint project made me interested in photovoltaic production and I decided to study the topic. The microgeneration of electricity has always fascinated me as an idea. The farm invested in a 7 KWh photovoltaic system which was and will be installed in September 2016. The aim of the thesis was to find out what you need to do and know before you can begin to generate electricity for own use. An essential part of the thesis was also to find out via profitability calculations whether the investment is profitable.

The theoretical part of the Bachelor's Thesis first tells about the sun in general and the effect of the earth on the sun's radiation. Most of the theoretical part concentrates on the solar power system components individually. In addition, the operating principle of a solar panel and its features that should be considered when installing are explained. For the practical part of the work I have used the photographs that I shot myself. The practical part consists of the plan, dimensioning and implementation of the photovoltaic system.

The investment proved to be profitable, and it pays for itself in 15 years. When doing the thesis I noticed that the joint order was really useful. According to the calculations, it is possible to produce 10% of the annual electricity consumption of the farm. Based on the thesis, I believe that photovoltaic power production on farms will become more common in the next few years as hardware prices fall and the price of purchased electricity will increase.