Are photovoltaic solar panels economical. I live in the San Francisco Bay area.?
Question:
Answer:
Photovaltaics are very economical (the panels to be purchased), yet everything associated with the storage of energy is through the roof! You will have to purchase batteries for the storage of your energy, and an inverter that takes the DC and converts it into AC for home use.
Batteries lose their life after a period of time, and you have to purchase new ones over a period of time. Inverters replace DC's 100% energy into around 30-40%, so this is not a very efficient means to pull in energy into the home.
I would suggest purchasing a copy of "Home Power" magazine. It is around $7.00 per issue, and is very insightful. Being in San Francisco, you may want to look into passive energy means, such as a "black box" water heater for the roof.
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