Cheap Solar Cooling Solution? 147
"I realize that the photovoltaic array will have to be of sufficient size to offer more power than will be consumed by peak load, causing excess power, that will need to be dealt with. Also, there will need to be some monitor so that if the available energy doesn't meet the minimum threshold, then the appliance is shut off (or the juice to the circuit is cut), and vice versa. As temperatures approach 120F and more this summer, I'm putting more aside for this project and at this point am not concerned with any but simple methods of using up 'excess' energy. Though thoughts have rattled around about a Linux controlled shading system to adjust the raw juice coming off the panels through selective shading."
If the concern is cooling, then one way of burning off any "excess" power might be creative use of fans (either single fans or a bank of them; small or large, depending on the amount of excess power available). What other ways might such "excess" power be used?
Flywheels! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:1)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:2)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:5, Informative)
But for the small home user, they are not practical. Also, something spinning that fast with that much mass makes me quite nervous.
Most people do not live near a creek and do not have space for a water reservoir storage system. This is probably the case here as he is wanting to use photovoltaics.
This is why everybody is clamoring to get a fuel cell to work.
He could use the excess energy to generate hydrogen and feed it to a fuel cell later to use as he needs.
Fuel cells are available [fuelcellstore.com], but they are beset with problems. They are expensive because many use rare metals as catalysts. They have limited lifetimes, needing repalcement every couple of years, making them very uneconomical at today's prices.
So while fuel cells may be the ideal, he may be stuck with batteries.
Re:Flywheels! (Score:2, Informative)
Still, if you can't afford lead acid batteries, you probably can't afford flywheels for the scale of the system.
You're crazy to suggest it... (Score:3, Interesting)
If you're trying to store cold, do what they did 200 years ago: put ice inside something insulated. Back then they used barns with walls full of sawdust, but we can do a lot better today.
Re:Flywheels! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:2)
Re:Flywheels! (Score:2, Informative)
There is more than one kind of energy storage (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:There is more than one kind of energy storage (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:There is more than one kind of energy storage (Score:3, Interesting)
While we're at it (Score:4, Insightful)
One solution is to not use electricity.
OK so far.
Build a solar-powered steam engine and use it to run a Carnot cycle in reverse (heat pump) during the day. All mechanical, no electricity. Cheaper than solar cells plus batteries plus charger/inverter.
While we're at it, we can make the air conditioner even more efficient by making it out of point masses and assuming no friction.
[Hint: The Carnot cycle [gsu.edu] is a theoretical model from the thermodynamics unit in physics class, it's not a real heat pump to cool anything. It makes some assumptions (eg. a fully reversable process, no entropy increase) that we don't know how to engineer. It's the oversimplified ideal heat pump, not a real one.]
Re:While we're at it (Score:2)
Store it in the electric company (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't most state regulatory bodies require that electrical utilities purchase any power that a customer generates?
Just feed your excess into the power grid, and let it offset the power you buy from the utility. Pay the difference on your lower utility bill.
Re:Store it in the electric company (Score:2)
Re:Store it in the electric company (Score:5, Informative)
Net Metering [bergey.com] is the issue here.
Electric companies buy the electricity from you at wholsale rates. Then they sell it back to you at retail rates.
You end up paying the electric company the same for your own electricity as you would if you bought it from them directly, without any solar cells, windmills or whatever. The concept of Net Metering [google.com] allows the consumer/generator to sell back to the electric grid at the same price for generation or consumption, based on net usage.This way you get a real incentive for building your own small facilities and put power on the grid.
Power companies don't like it because they loose money on the deal: transmission efficiencies are well below 100%, the power is not reliable in peak hours (because you are probably consuming it), and they don't get their administration and maintenance costs.
But I like the idea of generating your own electricity, espically for something as engery-intensive as cooling.
More power to ya!
Re:Store it in the electric company (Score:5, Interesting)
Under time of day metering, we are charged/paid 35 cents a kilowatt hour during "prime time" (Noon to 6 PM) and are charged/paid 7 cents a kilowatt hour during "non-prime time".
Since the array went online in December, I have seen the electric component of our utility bill drop from approximately $100.00 a month to between $20.00 (in December, when we were home during prime time due to the Christmas break) to $5.00 a month (which is what they charge us to send a bill with $0.00) in February.
I am currently generating and selling 6-8 net prime kilowatts a day, which offsets 42-56 non-prime kilowatts a day.
My investment in the system was approximately $11K after buy-downs (based on the number of watts I produce) and tax credits starting from a base costof $22K.
On this $11K investment I am seeing a projected after-tax return of $1080 a year or 9.8%. If you take a look at the pre-tax return I would have to get to match this, I would have to be getting an ROI of between 15-18%!
This is the best money I have spent ever! The grid tie setup is the way to go, since it lets me use the grid as my battery!
Re:Store it in the electric company (Score:3, Informative)
This is, according to PG & E and the CSPUC, the marginal cost of providing/generating a KWh duing this time period.
Of course, folks that aren't on time of day metering pay 7 cents/kWh due to regulation and overburden the system during peak demand.
couple ideas.. (Score:4, Interesting)
1. Sell it back to the grid. Use the electrical power grid as a battery, drawing from it when you need and selling your power back when you don't. You can actually make some money this way, offsetting the cost of the solar panels.
2. Break the circuit when you don't need the cooling. (Any EEs want to comment on if this can damage the solar cells?) I believe this will just create a DC potential difference across the cells, and since the circuit is broken, there's no current flowing around to worry about storing.
Good luck.
A comment from an EE (Score:5, Informative)
For a typical panel you will not have any trouble if you just leave it out in the sun open-circuited. However, if you parallel several of them and don't use anti-backflow diodes, you can dump the power of one or more back through the one with the lowest voltage (typically the hottest). This can lead to thermal runaway (voltage drops with temperature) and fire. Ergo, anti-backflow diodes are one of the most basic elements of a properly designed solar system using parallel panels.
Read Home Power [homepower.com] and you'll know this too.
Darn batteries (Score:2)
Re:Darn batteries (Score:2)
That would be hydrogen fuel cells.
It's the only thing that keeps solar power, wind power, electric cars, and a lot of other cool sustainable tech from happening.
Not true. Solar power is stagnating because of the high cost required to create solar panels. Wind power requires a lot of real estate, the right location, and maintenance. Don't get me wrong -- I'm a big supporter of "alternative" energy sources. But the problems are far fr
Re:Darn batteries (Score:5, Interesting)
As for alternatives, I agree. Solar isn't very efficent. As for wind, in the right area and done the right way it can be fanstastic. I live in eastern Kansas and let me tell you it can get VERY windy on some of the highways that I drive that are surounded (basically) by farms. Now, you would lose some crop if you put the windmills up in the middle of your fields, but there are also a large number of cow farms around (mostly meat cows, not dairy I think). Now you have all this land that's just used for grazing. You add some windmills and all of a sudden your land is now producing energy for free for you. You'd only lose a tiny ammount of grass (wouldn't effect the herd). You get money (that will cover the maintence) and it works year round. As for the cost of putting up the mills, you could almost certainly get grants from the Government and private groups to help pay for 'em (or band with other farmers to buy in "bulk"). The biggest problem is "environmentalists" complaining about the what it will do to the view (I think they're neat, personally) or how it makes the landscape unnatural (and ripping everything down for cattle grazing doesn't, let alone building "real" power plants). With all I've heard about the plight of family farms, this could be a fantastic way to suppliment income. Wind won't work everywhere, but in some areas you could get a LOT of power.
In fact, just 10 minutes or so down the road from me is a company's headquarters that has a few small windmills outside their building. I think they design/manufacture them.
Re:Darn batteries (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Darn batteries (Score:2)
That would be hydrogen fuel cells.
Let's see -
Cheap - Nope (requires expensive catalysts). $3000/kw. Internal combustion engines cost $50- $75 per kw. The internal combustion engines use cheaper and denser fuel, too.
Rechargable - Nope (can't run current back into it to recharge it like a battery - you need to get more H2 for it by some other process). Refuelable, yes. Rechargable, no.
Non-Bulky - Nope (H2 storage isn't cheap and is ge
Re:Darn batteries (Score:2)
Duh!!!!!
Conspiracy theories, anyone?
Doubtful. I've been involved in electrochemical R&D myself, and given the number of companies that have had programs in this area for many years, plus the vast wealth that would be generated by such a device it is hard to imagine how it could be surpressed.
It's the only thing that keeps solar power, wind power, electric cars, and a lot of other cool sustainable tech from happening.
Electri
Re:Darn batteries (Score:2)
What the heck is good about that? Expensive energy no matter where it comes from means economic slowdown, lower standards of living, etc.
Will you still be preaching about how wonderful it is to have oil so expensive we can finally use wind power when you've lost your job because the economy is in recession and you can't afford to run the lights or the computer because the utility
Re:Darn batteries (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree. Unfortunately your post shows exactly the sort of thoughtless knee jerk reaction you are complaining about.
The fact of the matter is that the US economy is
drastically and negatively influenced by the current status quo of statisfying energy needs by cheap oil imports. The costs of the foreign policy needed to support this situation are in the 100's of billions per
Die-off (Score:2)
Some [lifeaftertheoilcrash.net] people [sacredelectron.org] believe we're at Peak Oil [oilcrash.com] now, and the crash will hit us [dieoff.org] in the next 3-8 years.
If we are at the peak [hubbertpeak.com], then the price of oil will continue to rise, as will food prices, the prices of
No conspiracy (darn) (Score:2)
In point of fact, Exxon actually spent a lot of money, back in the 80s, trying to develop a cheap rechargable battery. They figured that when the gas ran out, people would switch to electric cars, and they'd go to an Exxon station whenver they needed to swap out their batteries. Alas, the gas never ran out...
Re:Darn batteries (Score:2, Informative)
Lead-acid batteries are considered to heavy for most hybrids, since every bit of weight counts, especially when you have a weaker powerplant. The Toyota, Honda and Ford hybrid vehicles use sealed nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH).
Re:Darn batteries (Score:3, Funny)
I suggest we use people as batteries and energy sources.
We can keep them placid by simulating a whole universe for them to "experience".
We just have to make sure they don't take the red pill.
Re:Darn batteries (Score:4, Funny)
Of course, you could never make Keanu Reeves movie about bacteria...
Re:Darn People (Score:2)
Why store the energy? (Score:3, Informative)
Think Outside the Suburb (Score:3, Interesting)
You want to reduce you air conditioning need. Think awnings that reduce solar gain. Think reducing heat generation. Think insulation. Think how to be a bit more clever. There is a lot of work available on this aspect.
Once you do do some air conditioning, consider finding a cooler hot side for your heat pump. Something my wife wants us to look at for both heating and cooling is "geothermal", that is using the earth for the both hot side (in winter) and cold side (summer) of the heat pump. Also, if you are in a dry climate, consider if a little evaporative cooling might boost efficiency.
-kb
Re:Think Outside the Suburb (Score:5, Interesting)
If you want solar, then build the solar array a couple of feet, at least, above your house. That way, your house will be in the shade created. You're smart enough to not stand out in the sun when it's really hot, but why do you make your house stand out in the sun all day, then expect it to be cool? If there's enough water around, plant tall trees that will shade the house. Keep windows and drapes closed on the sunny side of the house. Make sure your attic space is ventilated, or even power vented. Have canopies, or shades, on the outside of the house, that keep sun out of the windows.
Next, _build_ your own house. Use stack effect cooling. Insulate heavily. Insulation slows heat transfer, which means it will slow down the heat getting in. (Most people think you should only insulate in cold climates.)
Somehow, people survived for thousands of years without air conditioning. Could it be that "modern" housing design, where one style suits the entire country, isn't the best idea?
Re:Think Outside the Suburb (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a place in Arizona called Arcosanti [arcosanti.org]. It was designed around the philosophy that "modern" housing design is wrong and inefficient. The architect made alot of intelligent design decisions to keep the complex cool, all without Air Conditioning.
I was there a few years ago. It was 105 in the sun. Within the complex, in certai
Re:Think Outside the Suburb (Score:2)
Somehow, people survived for thousands of years without air conditioning. Could it be that "modern" housing design, where one style suits the entire country, isn't the best idea?
Next you'll be telling us that putting large sliding glass doors on the north side of houses in North Dakota is a bad thing. Spoilsport.
Seriously though, I agree with the poster. Just because we do have the power to heat or cool through brute force does not mean we have to use it.
Research traditional housing in regions
Re:Think Outside the Suburb (Score:2, Funny)
(I'll probbably get modded -1 failure to say "You Insensitive Clod")
Re:Think Outside the Suburb (Score:2)
No, it's just that we turned into a bunch of pampered wooses. Seriously.
Re:Think Outside the Suburb (Score:2)
I wonder if screw compressors defeat this problem as well? Advantages of screw compressors are the decreased noise and increased efficiency. Reciprocating compressors lose energy with inertia changes between pumpings (also where most of the noise comes from). The initial pumping is what takes so much energy to get started on reciprocating compressors. A screw compressor can star
Ammonia refrigeration? (Score:3, Informative)
They use heat to separate ammonia+water, condense the ammonia, then use the evaporating ammonia for cooling as it is absorbed back into the water solution:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/refrigerator5.htm
Not sure if this would be any more efficient than solar cells + batteries, plus you'd either need a large quantity of ammonia to give you long periods of cooling even after the sun goes down, or you'd need a large thermal mass to store heat (or rather to remove heat and store "cool").
Re:Ammonia refrigeration? (Score:2)
Bravo!
This is exactly what I was thinking.... and yes, it is drastically more efficient than going through 4 conversions (sunlight -> DC -> AC -> mechanical power).
It would also take less room than the equivalent solar cells, and will probably cost a tiny fraction of the amount.
Ammonia refrigeration works (Score:2)
I have seen a number of articles on systems which used ammonia refrigerant, calcium chloride (ice melter - CHEAP!) as the absorbent, and the rest of the pressure system was standard sizes of steel pipe and fittings. The concentrator was a parabolic cylinder, which works very well for putting energy onto a target which is a ten foot long pipe. You might have some hassles getting the ammonia (you need anhydrous,
Salt water + sun = cool (Score:5, Informative)
Try this [eg-solar.de]. Direct refrigeration from the sun - and it doesn't even use salt water and ammonia.
If you just want cooling (er, you can also get heating with this) and you have the property, it's even easier. Dig a buncha ditches and lay some pipe [mb-soft.com]. You combine these inlets with a decent solar chimney [greenbuilder.com] and you have a completely "passive" (ie no machine moving parts, no electricity needed) means of circulating 60 degree air throughout the house.
Oh, and here's a DIY solar ice maker [homepower.com] - just for the heck of it.
Feel free to message me about this. Solar energy is something of an avocation of mine.
Yes, Ammonia refrigeration. (Score:5, Informative)
Ammonia is widely used in industrial-scale compression refrigeration systems. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than fluorine/carbon compounds.
Your attention is appreciated. (Score:2)
Re:Ammonia refrigeration? (Score:2)
WhatRU smoking?
Those things don't run on ammonia AFAIK, and never have.
Vapor absorption cycle refrigeration has been done with a variety of working fluids over the years, including ammonia. Ammonia was actually quite common in the natural-gas-powered home refrigerators popular until the early to mid 1950's. Unfortunately, almost all of the economically viable working fluids of this type were poisonous and/or could cause severe lung burns. They could never even be considered in today's lit
Re:Ammonia refrigeration? (Score:2)
Re:Ammonia refrigeration? (Score:2)
It could do it violently enough to break bones, and did in fact break my grandmothers ankle in about 1942.
Grandpa said that was it and went to town on that one, and came back with enough stuff from the Windcharger folks to get started with a "Delco" 32 volt electrical system on his farm, eventually expanding it to include our "house" a couple of hundred
Cheap Solar Cooling Solution? (Score:3, Funny)
What the hell would you want to cool the sun for?
(... had to be said... *ducks*)
Re:Cheap Solar Cooling Solution? (Score:2)
Re:Cheap Solar Cooling Solution? (Score:2)
So you can overclock it?
Just run a fan. (Score:1)
I'm sure you could just run a nice DC fan, maybe even with a temperature controller. There are many a model of solar Attic fans that can significantly cool a house in the summer.
I know they're inefficient, but how about a peltier device?
Wind turbines, and the electrical grid. (Score:2, Informative)
With it, when its windy, you generate and use your own electricity, and sell off excess to the grid. Its quite exciting watching an electrical meter run backwards.
Of course, when its calm, the grid sells off electricity to you.
Either way, its a guaranteed supply of power for your house (AC included), and can really reduce your electrical bills.
Call your local electrical company a
Wrong Question (Score:2)
Maybe you should look for a DC air conditioner, or different cooling technologies. Or, maybe you should type "solar power air conditioner" into google.
Build your own (Score:1)
Good luck with that (Score:5, Informative)
In other words, take the total square footage of the area you want to cool and divide it by 3. That's a rough estimate of the square footage of solar panel you'll need. (Of course, the math WILL change depending on your installation: more efficient panels, better sunlight, more efficient AC unit, etc). This estimate is a worst-case scenario, and I can easily see getting a factor of 5 or better.
As for excess energy... if you anticipate needing a LOT of cooling, one option may be to "store" some of that cool. Use the extra juice to run refrigeration units to chill tanks filled with brine or antifreeze solution. Help cool off/dehumidify your house by running this chilled solution through some radiator coils. (Add small fans for better results!) The pump and fans can also be powered from the "extra juice" if there is any.
The added benefit here is that you can use energy collected in early morning/late evening hours to help reduce cooling load during the really hot parts of the day, allowing you to get away with smaller AC units and less solar panels.
=Smidge=
Re:Good luck with that (Score:2)
12,000 BTU should do a little better than 400SF in a home-- an office would require that, though.
Net metering is the best bet, if it is available, but mixing thermal storage would give you the "greenest" solution. I would try and run chilled wat
Re:Good luck with that (Score:2)
It works out to 30BTU/sq.ft., which is admittedly high for typical r
Geothermal cooling and good insulation. (Score:2)
Consider where I grew up in southern Alberta. In the winter temperatures dip frequently to -40. In the summer highs of 100oF are not uncommon. The same insulation that keeps the house warm in the winter keeps it cool in the summer. In fact very few people that I know of have air conditioning. Even in a hot climate, good insulation can knock your cooling bills way down.
Another thing to consider is geoth
geothermal heat pump. (Score:3, Informative)
One myth about solar in most systems- you will NOT be the only one on your block w/ lights during an outage. The power grid is a two way street, and your power will flow right back out to the grid in most setups. You will have to install special equipment to disconnect you from the grid in these cases.
There are programs out there where you can finance geothermal heat pumps so you dont feel the pain upon installation of the system. most of the time, youre cost savings in your energy bill is greater than the loan, so youll actually have more money in your pocket (and a brand new heat system- increased resale value).
for more info:
http://www.nrel.gov/clean_energy/geoheatpu
Re:geothermal heat pump. (Score:1)
I sorta figured my lights wouldn't work anyway because when I needed them it would be dark out...
Re:geothermal heat pump. (Score:3, Informative)
Not an issue (Score:2)
This is a theoritical issue that isn't a problem in the real world for several reasons.
First: If you supply power, your neighbors are going to use it. Your equipment cannot supply the whole neighborhood, even the biggest will trip the mail breaker in your house (all your neighbors drawing from you is more power than your house can deal with), more likely you will trip a breaker on your equipment and not have power yourself.
Second, if you have equipment connected to the grid it cannot work without synchr
Someone doesn't read the literature... (Score:2)
Re:geothermal heat pump. (Score:2)
Re:geothermal heat pump. (Score:2)
Planning on a small solar install myself, I've been doing a lot of reading on the topic for the past few years (subscribe to Home Power Magazine). A rule of thumb is that for every $1 you spend in conservation of electricity, you will save $10 in generation. So, if it costs you $200 to replace every incadescent bulb in your house (save maybe the oven and refrigerator) like I have, that's $2000 less in solar panels you'll need
Solar Powered Ceiling Fans (Score:1, Informative)
They're not (that) expensive, they run when the sun's out, when you need it most.
I've spent time in Africa and India, and everyone has really good ceiling fans, and it makes a heckuva difference. Some places, like banks and airports, are augmented by these neato wall-mounted oscillating fans.
Depends where you live (Score:2, Informative)
Your Only Hope (Score:2)
You might be lucky, and have access to lots of ground water. If so, you might be able to pump it through the system with much less power than a regular cooling system needs.
If you have a big enough installation and live in a place that is cold enough i
architecture (Score:2, Interesting)
There are also some things you can do after the building has been built, like planting trees, improving insulation, and putting reflective coatings on your windows. If you have lots of space in your yard, you can also use a bed of rocks together
Evaporator? (Score:2)
Your PV system then only has to run a fan.
company (Score:2)
Solar tech (Score:2, Informative)
You don't need electrical storage! (Score:2, Interesting)
Yours is an ideal application: the load is directly proportional to the solar gain. So there is no need for storage because your cooling needs track the solar gain. Less sun, less cooling needed. There can be some lag time, depending insulation and thermal mass in the house but these things are best solved with insulation and thermal mass as your "storage".
For an air conditioner, use an evaporative cooler (many times more efficient tha
Air Conditioners eat a LOT of power (Score:5, Insightful)
In terms of batteries... you only ever use batteries if you are off-grid or if the grid is really unreliable. If you are tied to the grid you do not usually use batteries... the Solar system goes through an inverter and powers the house, and any excess is fed back to the grid (running your meter backwards). The grid acts as the 'battery' in this case. If you are not producing enough to power your house, the remainder is fed to you from the grid. Grid-tie systems without batteries are the *simplest* and *cheapest* type of PV system you can buy, but you are still talking about $15-$20K for the system you see above. Systems with batteries cost a lot more (add another $5-$10K at least) plus you have maintainance requirements (Batteries wear out), and you need an ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) which itself is expensive. On the otherhand, systems without batteries are nearly 100% maintinance free. Without batteries means that if the grid goes down, you go down too. Most people live in areas where the grid is reliable enough that there's no point doing battery storage. Also keep in mind that battery systems have much higher losses then grid-tie systems because you have a loss charging the battery and another one pulling energy out of the battery on top of the inverter losses.
Typical home AC systems eat 3kW while larger home systems eat 5kW (for homes, not apartments). Lets say you had an AC unit that eats 3kW while operating. A 2.5KW grid-tie system producing 16KwH/day would be able to run such a unit for 5 hours. As you can see, the PV system itself would not be able to power the AC unit alone, it would definitely need help from the grid, but if you only ran the AC for 5 hours the PV system would run your meter backwards the rest of the time and make up for it.
Five hours is not usually enough running time to really be able to cool a house unless you live in dessert conditions where it gets cold at night, in which case you really need to cool the house down at night so it stays cool enough so you don't have to turn on the AC until the afternoon (12-5p.m.)
So, generally speaking, trying to run an AC system with a PV (solar power) system is a bad investment. You could try running a smaller AC system but the sun generates something like a kilowatt of heat per square meter and it will easily overpower a small AC system if you do not have good insulation. Note, in particular, that if you do not have good wall insulation the sun is likely to overpower your AC during the afternoon when the sun is hitting the side of the house instead of the roof.
You would be far wiser to invest in passive technologies such as improved insulation and infra-red reflective shading. If water is cheap (or even if it isn't), a swamp cooler (rooftop evaporator) is often a great investment... it's cheap and it provides some cooling at a far lower cost then AC in electricity use. I've heard people mention GeoThermal, and it does work, but if GeoThermal is not put in when the house is actually built it can't take advantage of an under-the-house installation. Getting enough suds out o
What is the exact application? (Score:2)
If you only need to keep something small below 80 F or so (like, a computer?), you can get really dumb-ass simple. Fit the comp for liquid cooling, use one small solar panel and a DC pump to push ground water through the cooling system. Your total power need
I won't tell you what your real problem is, but... (Score:2)
handle the voltages of this setup WITHOUT the use of a battery bank?" What about the voltages makes it necessary to use a battery bank? Don't want one? Don't use one. Simple.
"I realize that the photovoltaic array will have to be of sufficient size to offer more power than will be consumed by peak load, causing excess power, that will need to be dealt with. Also, there will need to be some monitor so that if the available energy doesn't meet the minimum threshold, th
Underground living (Score:2)
The way the locals deal with this is to live underground. The houses are basically carved out of the limestone with jack hammers. The temperature is cool throughout the summer and warm in the winter. So they say ...
Er, maybe not an electrical AC? (Score:2)
Sumps work via evaporative efforts rather than refridgerants. here is 4 seconds of google "work" [energyoutlet.com]
Oh, and limiting areas of heat ingress - shades and canopies over windows that let the sun in.
You're SOL. Get a windmill. (Score:2)
If you want A/C, you need kilowatts of power. Ac is pretty dismal power wise.. it's inefficient to pump heat in the wrong direction. No way around that one. A medium sized windmill can easily supply 2-3kW of power you'd need for a nice A/C unit. You need to be in a location that lends itself to windmills, and you're probably going to need
Save, then use old style cooling (Score:2)
Next, get the cool when you can - you did not indicate if you are in a dry or wet climate, but if it is desert like, then open the house up at night and get a whole-house attic fan. Pull in the cold at night, cold-soak the house, and the button up in the morning.
If you are in a desert climate, get a swamp cooler (evaporative cooler). This ta
Passive Solar (Score:2)
For active, use fans to circulate cooler air. Use an underground thermal sink to reduce the load on the A/C unit. (Can also be used to heat in winter).
Look at smaller, room-based A/C units designed for mobile homes (not the LPG powered ones).
I'm not that conservationally-minded, do some Googleing. In 30 seconds I found this [solarserver.de] page.
Swamp Cooler (Score:2)
A swamp cooler is typically a large tank on the roof of a house with a fan sucking air out of the house, across the tank, cooling it, and then forcing the chilled air back into the house.
Low power usage, coolish air.
Cost of batteries vs Panels (Score:2, Informative)
The solar panels are going to be easily thousands of dollars. By spending some money on batteries you'll be able to do away with a bunch of extra panels which is going to save more in the long run and will allow you to cool in the evening or on a cloudy day to boot. Still the cheapest is going to
Another solution (Score:2)
Forget trying to run a regular AC unit, unless you want to spend BIG BUCKS on the batteries and solar panels - and you will spend a lot of money on them (though prices have come dow
Evaporative Cooling (Score:2)
Wow... (Score:2)
Hybrid Generation (Score:2)
Solar panel production costs? (Score:2)
Anybody got any good numbers from a reputable, independent (ie, not a solar panel company or an oil company...) source?
Here's a starter link: (Score:3, Informative)
The short version is that amorphous (thin-film) panels yield a 400%-2000% payoff on energy investment. That range is worst-case to best-case lifetime for the panels. Thin-film is the way to go anyway, as it's around $15/sq. foot instead of the
Re:Here's a starter link: (Score:2)
>Now, as to convincing your significant other that shiny purple-blue panels are the way to clad your house is the tough part.
Ok, I'm hooked, where can I buy solar siding at? That sounds cool.
Seriously, if it really existed, I would buy some in a heartbeat.
Re:Here's a starter link: (Score:2)
It's not gonna be as easy as getting new vinyl siding installed-- you're probably going to hav
Re:VA Power (Score:2)
I'll grant you though, Solar power probably isn't the best way to try and run an air conditioner.