I'm interested in heating our water with solar energy. We live in Virginia, and have direct sun on our ranch style roof. How much would it cost to purchase the technology and to maintain solar panels just to heat our water? Thanks!
Try solar water heater on the Internet. I see a 26 gallon one there for about $700.
Can't answer directly, as ROI will depend on how you can situate the solar panels and how much freezing weather you get -- a simple system that will handle hot water in summer but has to be drained in winter is cheap and easy. The ones involving heat exchangers that can be used in freezing weather are more complex and expensive. www.energy.vt.edu/vept/renewables...
