Saving Energy - Empowering Informed Decisions.
A guide to cutting energy costs for home and business.
Using a concept called the ThermX heat exchanger (similar to evacuated tubes on a solar geyser), the Solar Thermal Air con unit uses the heat of the sun to drive the refrigerant instead of electricity.
70% more efficient than a standard air conditioner and offering heating and cooling, this internationally patented tech can be used for business or home. Each system is different and requires individual specs and specialised installation.
There is a lot of confusion re solar air conditioners at the moment. This will explain the difference between the two systems and hopefully clarify any misunderstandings around the two technologies.
The solar air conditioner is actually a solar thermal system that uses a solar thermal panel to drive the refrigerant in the system and this makes it about 70% more efficient than the standard air conditioner.
In simple terms, the solar thermal panel is connected to the condenser unit and the air con unit and utilises the sun’s power to drive the refrigerant in the system instead of using electricity as a normal air conditioner does.
In the image on the right, you can see the solar thermal collector on the roof connected to the single condenser unit which is connected to the indoor wall and cassette units.
The efficiency of solar air conditioners also comes from the fact that the SINGLE condenser unit ( the one with the fan) can run up to 4 different wall / cassette units on ONE Thermal panel instead of each unit needing it’s own condenser unit as in typical air conditioner configurations.
This is basic structure for solar air conditioners used in residential installations.
Originally designed for commercial installations only to help reduce power consumption in office buildings, shopping centres and manufacturing plants, solar air conditioners are now available for residential installations as well.
The residential units use the same technology on a smaller scale and the solution offers multiple units running off a single solar thermal panel.
This is one of the MAJOR differences between the solar conditioners and the Solar Powered air conditioners.
Remember that the solar air conditioner still runs off electricity – it is just much more efficient!
This is effectively an off grid system, using solar panels and a PV System ( much like you would have for your home) to drive the air conditioners.
This system would require solar panels, batteries and inverters (like a regular off grid PV system) to run the air conditioner.
As tempting as this sounds, the issue here is one of power. Regardless of whether you use an inverter air conditioner, you still need to have enough battery capacity to run a 9000 BTU / 10 000 BTU air con unit and this requires a LOT of battery power.
The reality is that for the price of a good quality properly installed PV system to JUST run an air con unit, you are better off installing a PV System to run the house and then installing SOLAR AIR CONDITIONERS reduce the energy requirements for the air con units.
The biggest difference between solar air conditioners and solar powered air conditioners is the price.
Remember that a solar powered (PV) air conditioner needs PV Panels, batteries and inverters to drive the system and enough power to run it even when there is no sun.
Bottom line, if there is rain for 3 days or really cold , cloudy weather – your PV Powered air conditioners won’t run.
To give you an idea , to run a single 9000 BTU air conditioner from a PV powered system would cost around R200 000! Yep…this is because of the components needed to run it and the installation.
Whereas a multi-split system using 4 X 9000 BTU air conditioners running off the solar air conditioner system would cost around half that to install and supply for a whole house!
The figure above is a ball park and it could even be less – maybe around R80 000, but the fact is that the saving of 70% on the energy consumption would deliver a much faster return on investment for Solar Air Conditioners than for a PV powered system.
With technology advancing , it is certain that solar air conditioners are going to become more prevalent over the coming years.
The term “solar air conditioner” is somewhat misleading as it gives the impression of an air conditioner unit that uses solar power to operate and thereby uses less electricity.
The reality is a little different.
Firstly we need to differentiate between commercial/ industrial air conditioner that could run on a solar solution and the residential units that COULD NOT.
SolarCool SA offer a solution that uses evacuated tubes (as found on a solar geyser) to drive the refrigerant on large industrial systems and thereby significantly reduces the energy usage by as much as 70%.
As you can see from the image above from the installation in Chingford, this system uses the evacuated tubes as a solar ‘compressor’ to drive the refrigerant instead of electricity.
Bottom line, if you are looking for a Solar Air Con solution for a supermarket, hotel or building then the Solar Cool SA solution will work for you.
If you want this for your house – IT WILL NOT.
The reason it will not is because essentially, it’s just too small a project and the costs would be astronomically high.
This brings us to the crux of this post.
At this point in time (and to my knowledge) the only way to run your air cons in your home off a solar solution is to install Solar PV Panels, batteries, inverter and chargers for either a stand alone or grid tie system.
If you look at the image, it shows you how a home solar air con system would operate.
Solar panels collect the sun’s energy and converts it to electricity. Then that’s then sent to the controller, then to the batteries and then to the air con unit.
Essentially you would install a system that generates enough Kwh to run your air con units and then you would need to go for the inverter type air cons as these offer the best efficiency.
Ok -so this doesn’t sound so bad?
Well, again, the costs involved are high, very high.
The perception that this is a relatively cheap solution is basically bollocks as if you want a proper system that actually runs for it’s lifetime and doesn’t pack up every time you want to use it, it needs to GET DONE PROPERLY.
Let me emphasize that again.
IT NEEDS TO BE DONE PROPERLY.
You need to know what the specs of the units are and how long they will operate for so that the right number of panels and batteries can be calculated.
You need a site inspection to see which direction the house is facing as well as the roof space capacity and strength in the support structures to be to withstand the weight of the panels – those things aren’t light you know.
We need to look at placement of the batteries, inverters and chargers as well as the wiring it takes to link the system up.
This is a very concise process and it NEEDS to be.
PLEASE don’t get caught out by CHEAP offerings as you WILL regret it if your roof collapses because no supporting roof sub-structures were installed.
I am not trying to put anyone off here as I believe in reducing energy usage as much as possible, but I don’t want people to rush in unprepared as this is how rip-off artists make their money.
Understand that even if you use your air con 8 hours a day in summer and the same in winter, this is still a medium to long term investment for you- meaning you will only recover your investment in 8-15 years.
There is some good news here though.
A system like this significantly increases the value of the property, especially if you have been able to link it to drive other elements of the house as well like lighting by adding some additional Kwh capacity.
For me, I work with Titanium 1 Solar and their expertise has been used by some of South Africa’s largest industrial businesses to reduce their energy usage considerably.
They provide exceptional quality systems and components as well as vast knowledge and expertise.
Make the enquiry with Chris at Titanium 1 on email at chris@ti1solar.com or contact him on
(016) 018 0031.
