Solar Powered Air Con- possible?

[FloridaSun]

You would be surprised how easy it is to sound proof a generator. When I went to the NASCAR race in Atlanta a couple of years ago everyone had generators in the RV camping area. But due to the noise limitations (didn't want to wake the kids after 10 pm) you either had to shut down your gen set or make it real quite. I saw a lot of homemade boxes with baffles and exhausts vents to allow the gen set to run yet stay very quite.

yes, they do need a bit of work to quiet them down. Personally I'd rather hear the thump thump of a Listeroid than a quiet modern high rev engine. Listeroids aren't so portable tho

[SunEagle]

Generators. Noisy but necessary unless willing to spend a huge amount on batteries.

yuck, Bangkok, about the only place in Thailand I don't like. Too much people and pollution like most big cities.
Thailand is a beautiful country.

You would be surprised how easy it is to sound proof a generator. When I went to the NASCAR race in Atlanta a couple of years ago everyone had generators in the RV camping area. But due to the noise limitations (didn't want to wake the kids after 10 pm) you either had to shut down your gen set or make it real quite. I saw a lot of homemade boxes with baffles and exhausts vents to allow the gen set to run yet stay very quite.

[FloridaSun]

We're about 2.5 hours drive NE of Bangkok, on the border of the Khao Yai National park. Pretty high elevation, so we tend to cooler weather than the rest of the area.
Having looked at the costs of Solar power, I am reluctantly going to have to go for a small genset. Still have a small Solar set up for my Hydroponics though, so not giving up altogether.

Generators. Noisy but necessary unless willing to spend a huge amount on batteries.

yuck, Bangkok, about the only place in Thailand I don't like. Too much people and pollution like most big cities.
Thailand is a beautiful country.

[hadders]

We're about 2.5 hours drive NE of Bangkok, on the border of the Khao Yai National park. Pretty high elevation, so we tend to cooler weather than the rest of the area.
Having looked at the costs of Solar power, I am reluctantly going to have to go for a small genset. Still have a small Solar set up for my Hydroponics though, so not giving up altogether.

[FloridaSun]

Luckily the fridge works fine and we have plenty of cold beer..!!

The house is all wood (see pic below) so normally AC is not required. It's just those 2-3 months of still, humid nights that are bad. We are way off the beaten track and our electricity supply is at the end of the line, so we often get power drops. I was looking into Solar power alternatives, but unfortunately unlike elsewhere in the world, the Thai Government doesn't give any incentives to install it.

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Nice house! Off the beaten track? You're up around Chiang Rai somewhere?
I remember even in the cities power could be unpredictable, go out a few times a week, but usually not for long. ha! Thai guvment doesn't even give incentive for electricians to do proper (safe) wiring. You would probably be better off with a small genset for the A/C and a few lights on those hot stuffy nights.

[hadders]

Luckily the fridge works fine and we have plenty of cold beer..!!

The house is all wood (see pic below) so normally AC is not required. It's just those 2-3 months of still, humid nights that are bad. We are way off the beaten track and our electricity supply is at the end of the line, so we often get power drops. I was looking into Solar power alternatives, but unfortunately unlike elsewhere in the world, the Thai Government doesn't give any incentives to install it.

Thai House.jpg

[SunEagle]

ice... inexpensive until you think about the Kwh it takes to produce ice.

It will be cheaper to create ice using utility power than running an AC unit on battery power.

[FloridaSun]

actually there are some home built cooling systems that use a combination of ice and a ducted fan. it is not high tech but it will provide some form of inexpensive cooling.

ice... inexpensive until you think about the Kwh it takes to produce ice.

[SunEagle]

sawasdee khap
You're much better off with passive cooling wherever you are in the world. Years ago I went to visit a girlfriend's uncle in Trat and his house was a very comfy 29C inside while 36C outside, without fans. Course he was an engineer and designed/built his own home. haha, I know that doesn't help if your renting but there may be some you can do, shade, ventilation, to bring down interior temps. More critical is a good supply of ice to pour the bia singha over!
chok di

actually there are some home built cooling systems that use a combination of ice and a ducted fan. it is not high tech but it will provide some form of inexpensive cooling.

[FloridaSun]

On the subject of cloudy days, I know that thailand is hot, cloudy or not, but is it possible to increase the solar panels and have the AC cool when the sun is out and hottest while running as long as it can with less batteries and a cut off switch to protect the battery from over discharge damage on cloudy days when it is not charging as effectively? Would this reduce the cost and give some cooling at the hottest times?

Bryan

sawasdee khap
You're much better off with passive cooling wherever you are in the world. Years ago I went to visit a girlfriend's uncle in Trat and his house was a very comfy 29C inside while 36C outside, without fans. Course he was an engineer and designed/built his own home. haha, I know that doesn't help if your renting but there may be some you can do, shade, ventilation, to bring down interior temps. More critical is a good supply of ice to pour the bia singha over!
chok di

[hadders]

Hi Guys,

The same company is advertising a 'Hybrid Solar Air Conditioner'

http://www.china-aircon.com/detail-10013956/solar-air-conditioner-wall-mounted-dc-inverter-series.html

Which if you download the specs would use 536W of power for the 9,000 BTU model.
I think we are still looking at a major investment even for this model. Daytime running is not needed as we are out of the house, but would have to run it nighttime for approx 8 hours.

[Bryan]

Thanks for the reply.

Cost is definitely a factor of course, I like to keep costs down too but it seems that in this case there is no good option for getting AC with the commercial power, so starting an off grid system would be better than nothing and one step closer to being self sufficient, even if the system will need to be upgraded over time. I' d like to see him have a go at it. As more of us begin getting off grid power system, (I am starting with my camping power requirements), I am sure that the cost will come down. We may pay more today for R&D that will benefit us tomorrow.............as long as I don't go broke doing it........

Bryan

[Sunking]

Bryan the problem with off-grid solar is cost. If you have commercial power, use it. To go off-grid the power will cost you about 10 times more than if you bought it from the power company. At least th epower company only bills you monthly. Solar off grid is 5 years up front in cash. Then in 3 to 5 years you pay again to replace batteries.

[Bryan]

On the subject of cloudy days, I know that thailand is hot, cloudy or not, but is it possible to increase the solar panels and have the AC cool when the sun is out and hottest while running as long as it can with less batteries and a cut off switch to protect the battery from over discharge damage on cloudy days when it is not charging as effectively? Would this reduce the cost and give some cooling at the hottest times?

Bryan

[Wy_White_Wolf]

I am living up in the mountains in Thailand, we have power but due to frequent 'brown outs' in the area, not enough to use AC. Nearest 3 phase power is 2 miles away and would cost many $$$ to bring in.
I use ceiling fans most of the year, but the 3 months of Hot Season gets really hot and AC would be nice. I was just seeing if it was at viable idea, looks like a generator would be cheaper.

For the smallest unit they offer my rough numbers come in at 800W array and 250AH @ 48V battery for every day hour that you want to run it. So if you turn it on at noon and off at 6pm then you need 4800W of panels and 1500AH @ 48V battery bank.

WWW