Solar powered AC air conditioning, a bummer or a challenge?

[Living Large]

All depends on the unit and model.
Our Fujitsu inverter split unit, if turned ON in QUIET/ECO mode it will not pass the 400w mark, it takes longer to cool the room, but it does work. if we don't use the ECO/QUIET mode and use LOW fan speed, the unit will go up to 1400watts for a few minutes before going down to the 300-400w range. We tested my fathers split unit with a Efergy and TED 5000 meters. Right now the fujitsu is the only one that has that feature in ECO/QUIET mode.

This matches research I did. The unit I was looking at never goes over 300W in the ECO mode. A person posting with experience said "pre-cooling" was a must - turn it on in the morning and let it run all day. Impossible to drop the temperature with 300W, once it gets hot.

[SolarFox]

If this can be done, I would definitely invest. I never even thought about solar powered AC. I have only ever seen rock cooling.

[chayydtayloor]

All depends on the unit and model.
Our Fujitsu inverter split unit, if turned ON in QUIET/ECO mode it will not pass the 400w mark, it takes longer to cool the room, but it does work. if we don't use the ECO/QUIET mode and use LOW fan speed, the unit will go up to 1400watts for a few minutes before going down to the 300-400w range. We tested my fathers split unit with a Efergy and TED 5000 meters. Right now the fujitsu is the only one that has that feature in ECO/QUIET mode.

Great will going to check out this model very soon.

Regards


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[LucMan]

Can you post the model # ?

[solarpr]

The economy mode on the Fujitsu limits the max power consumption to 70% of the max rated input. So it is possible for the unit to draw 1435 watts if the thermostat is set low. It is not limited to 300-400 watts! The thermostat still needs to be adjusted in increments to keep power consumtion low.
On the standard cooling mode the unit will operate at 130% of capacity for aproximately 10 minutes if required by the thermostat setting.

All depends on the unit and model.
Our Fujitsu inverter split unit, if turned ON in QUIET/ECO mode it will not pass the 400w mark, it takes longer to cool the room, but it does work. if we don't use the ECO/QUIET mode and use LOW fan speed, the unit will go up to 1400watts for a few minutes before going down to the 300-400w range. We tested my fathers split unit with a Efergy and TED 5000 meters. Right now the fujitsu is the only one that has that feature in ECO/QUIET mode.

[LucMan]

The economy mode on the Fujitsu limits the max power consumption to 70% of the max rated input. So it is possible for the unit to draw 1435 watts if the thermostat is set low. It is not limited to 300-400 watts! The thermostat still needs to be adjusted in increments to keep power consumtion low.
On the standard cooling mode the unit will operate at 130% of capacity for aproximately 10 minutes if required by the thermostat setting.

[inetdog]

Thanks for the personal experience, solarpr, especially the ECO-cap.
Some users of inverter mini-splits have had to inch the thermostat setting down a degree or two at a time when starting up to avoid the high power mode.
Setting an upper limit on power (with the ability to go full bore if you choose) sounds like a very useful feature!

[solarpr]

The best A/C system for solar is a high SEER inverter split unit.

Here is my system Green Freeze (generic chinesse brand)
Inverter Split Unit 18,000BTU (9,000BTU - 20,000BTU) 19 SEER 240v

Location Puerto Rico 90-100F degree weather 24/7
Split unit set to 77F room 10' x 17'
Fan speed low

It will consume a max of 1400-1500w starting slow for the first few minutes, no surges. Once it reaches the desired temp it will start to lower the BTU to keep it there. In my case it takes a few minutes of 1400w and stays around 585-640w continuos all day, if you open the door and let hot air come in, it will raise to 700-900-1100w quickly and then lowers back to the 600w range. This unit is cheap and still does a very good job. I plan to use my 240v inverter to run this air during the day.

Here is my split unit power consumption on my TED 5000 datalogging for this morning.
18btu.gif

More expensive and better quality = Fujitsu has a inverter split unit 240v that is 26 seer that it will consume 1400-1500w at starting and then go as low as 300 watts, and has a QUIET/ECO mode, a feature that will limit the compressor valve from the beginning and it will only consume 300-400watts 24/7 from on to off and it will not raise more than that. It will take longer to cool the room and take it back to the desired temp if a door is open, but that feature is meant to do that, it will not raise the amps (puts a cap on the compressor by closing a valve) My father has one on his room and works excellent.

[jimindenver]

Since this thread is still alive....

The liquid used for passive heating or cooling wasn't water. It was thicker and i doubt anything would grow in it.

As for the rest, look at the trip report I did in the RV section. With three 250w panels flat we had no issues running the window air conditioner when the sun shined. With 675 Ah of battery we had no problem we had no issues when it was cloudy but the longest I did that was 3 or 4 hours and the solar still puts out a reduced amount.

Now then, I did it because the trailer is set up for the boonies and never sees shore power. It also seems a bit nuts to go to the effort to get to the places we do and ruin the experience with a generator which is personal opinion. Would the system ever save enough to be consider economical vs the grid or even compared to the gas a generator would use? I doubt it even with getting the panels and batteries off of craigslist for $1200 total. The savings would add up faster compared to using campgrounds with hook ups but being crammed into a smelly, smokey, noisy campground isn't my idea of camping. Even then it would take years to see a return.

Just an example of what could be done, not small, cheap or unlimited by any means.

[Mike90250]

yes, I agree with this view.

Your posts with simplistic or nonsense answers, are being deleted. They do not further discussuion, and look like you are building posts to release a load of spam.

Forgive me if I've misjudged you.

[inetdog]

I did not say that the Air conditioner was powered by 12vdc. It runs on Alternating current. But a solar panel only makes DC voltage.

Technically the compressor motor in an inverter-type mini-split A/C runs off DC pulses provided by a controller frequency inverter that in turn runs off DC rectified from the input AC. With proper design of the control circuitry it would be possible to build an A/C that could accept either AC or DC as an input, much the same way that the Grundfos SQFLex pumps run off a range of inputs to the controller.
But I do not know of such a commercial unit at this time.

[banned]

I'm sure non-renewable energy costs will skyrocket long before that.

I'm sure non-renewable energy costs will skyrocket long before that.

[Zarajohn]

solar powered ac

I did not say that the Air conditioner was powered by 12vdc. It runs on Alternating current. But a solar panel only makes DC voltage.

[jhonson smith]

Solar powered AC air conditioning, a bummer or a challenge?

The problem with solar powered ........ system is the relative (lack) of cost of natgas. We have a large 75 gal natgas tank (no we don't use nearly that much, but code mandates that size for the number of bathrooms in the house... sigh...), and even that monster only generates $20-25 a month of utility cost. Almost all of your savings from running solar water heating would need to come from cooling reduction to make it viable, and I just don't see it working all that well for that. Ambients in Texas summers can average high 90's, and we already build houses with 14' ceilings to take advantage of interior thermals, so I'd be dubious that heating water through roof tile absorption would offset cooling cost enough for a decent ROI.

The direct link to another website was removed. Please do not attach links without the Forum owners permission.

[LucMan]

Clean the drain on the inside coil,and or disassemble the unit and clean all dirt from the inside of the unit.