What is the price range for a solar panel (installed) sufficient to power an average refridgerator?
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I run a 5000 btu AC unit on an 810 watt off grid solar electric system. It is able to run my double door fridge with ice maker when I need it to.
You need to get a kill-a-watt meter and see how much power you will need and get a system to match it if you are going to be hooked to the electric co. If you are going off grid you need a system twice the size you need with a backup system for incase it rains for a week at a time.
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Solar panels on the roofs of houses do not produce electricity. They have water tubes in them that heat up and store hot water. If you mean a photo-voltaic cell, then that is a completely different animal. The little solar cells you see on calculators are relatively inexpensive because they only have to produce low voltage and milliamps of power. Something adequate to run a refrigerator is going to need the kind of solar cell you'd find on the Hubble Telescope. I'm sure you can understand the price range. Plus, there is all of the additional costs of storage of power for use at night and on rainy days, etc. If this type of energy source were practical and even remotely affordable without a 50 year payback, then they'd be selling them at Home Depot.
Right now, it costs about $9 per watt-peak to install a photovoltaic system. So a typical refrigerator uses 600 W. So at a mininum it would cost $5400. However, your refrigerator runs about 9 hours a day and there is sunlight for about 5.5 hours a day. So you need a larger system and batteries if it was to be completely stand alone. That would probably run about $10,000.
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