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["Don Bowen" <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

> I tried
> to explain that you can't heat water, run a heat-pump, power a well
> pump, or run washers and dryers with a photovoltaic array.

You can heat water.  Heating water is the most cost effective method of
capturing the suns energy.  

You can run a well pump.  There are 12V well pumps designed to run off
battery power charged with a solar array.

A heat pump is a very different mater requiring lots more power.  They can
run them off a solar array if the array is big enough which translates to
many dollars.

Washers and driers can be modified to work off DC if the dryer is gas.

A good place to start is Home Power Magazine at www.homepower.com.  They
have articles showing how to set up whole house systems with exactly how
much it will cost.  

And remember that the cheapest Watt you can generate is a Watt you do not
have to generate.  Start with conservation, see just how low you can get
your electric usage then do the planning.

Don Bowen  KI6DIU
New ruralize pages, follow the link off http://www.ruralize.com
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html