Living off grid presents it’s own challenges, but it doesn’t have to be miserable! Here’s everything you need to know about an Off Grid Air Conditioner!
Living off grid means cutting ties with traditional electrical companies.
Most people love how living off grid encourages them to live simply and away from all the hustle and bustle of the city.
It takes time, it takes effort, but the end result is so rewarding. One important thing to consider when you’re planning on going off grid is air conditioners.
Going off grid doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sacrifice the comfort of your own home. In our area in Virginia we could not get away without air conditioning during our Summers.
Finding high quality products could be hard, but it’s a great investment as it helps lower the energy bills and provide comfort for those living in remote areas.
Off Grid Air Conditioner
Because off grid appliances are powered by a solar panel system, this means that no other fuel is used.
Solar powered air conditioning systems help cut down on energy consumption and electric bills. The return of this significant investment can be seen in the long run, around 8-10 years.
How Solar Systems Work
There are three things needed to make up this whole system. These are the PV panels, a DC to AC power converter, and a rack system to hold the panels where they stay.
Off grid air conditioning systems can work in two ways—using the DC power that the solar panels collect, and by AC power which was converted by an off grid inverter.
Collecting energy comes in two ways—using PV panels (Photovoltaic panels) and solar thermal or solar heating. These PV systems are especially helpful at heating the house in winter to provide the ambient temperature.
They can produce 8 to 10 watts per square foot of solar panel area.
Using DC system charges a battery right from solar energy together with a battery inverter to provide AC power to the house.
This means that DC systems produce electricity by a combination of solar power and a few bits of conversion from an AC power source.
As we talk about DC systems for households, solar charge controllers are needed. These controllers can operate at high voltages, up to 150 volts DC. This could be enough for tiny homes.
But, for bigger solar systems, a more complicated arrangement might be needed to completely set up DC systems as only a maximum of three solar panels can be connected to a single controller.
DC systems are known to have high efficiency especially in charging batteries.
To power a whole house, solar AC units are used since these units are more advanced. Unlike direct current solar power systems, off grid AC units are less powerful at charging batteries compared to the former.
On the other side, off grid systems powered by AC have higher efficiency when powering higher AC loads during daylight hours. Much larger solar arrays are easily installed with AC units as compared to when using DC systems.
AC and DC systems aren’t the only ways to have off grid power. You can also use hybrid systems.
Aside from providing enough power for home use, hybrid systems can store excess energy for battery storage like how a battery bank saves the day on a rainy day.
Hybrid systems make use of batteries and there are a lot of batteries to choose from. On top of this list is lead acid batteries. For decades now, lead acid batteries have been trusted for off grid power.
Another battery on top of the list is lithium batteries. Lithium batteries are used on rechargeable electronics like cellphones, electrical vehicles, and more.
For air conditioner systems, swamp coolers, solar fans, and other electric appliances, AC systems offer higher efficiency. Installation of AC systems also comes at a low cost.
It is a good idea to know how much power your household uses. This way, you could come up with a good design that fits the energy requirement for your home.
Most households have an average of 250 to 400 watts while domestic solar panel systems can have between a 1-kilowatt hour to 4-kilowatt hours.
Here are some great brands to choose from when you are looking for solar power air conditioners.
Off Grid Air Conditioner – Event Horizon Solar and Wind Inc.
On a very sunny day, this off grid air conditioner can save the day. This has a good quality and does not even need a lot of electricity as it only relies on sunlight to power it up.
This off grid unit is a mini-split air conditioner, meaning it has both an indoor unit and an outdoor unit.
It has heat pumps that can heat all the way down to 5 degrees F to provide warmth and comfort for those living in colder regions.
This air conditioner needs vacuum pumps, so it would be best to ask for help from HVAC.
Sunshine Works
High humidity can be so frustrating. In a household that has a power supply that is native 48vdc, the HotSpot DC4812VRF all DC air conditioners could be what you are looking for.
It helps cut down on electricity bills and doesn’t need that much battery power so a major drain in your battery could be avoided—less electricity, fewer batteries.
With its SeaSpray Anti-Erosion technology, circuit boards, condenser, evaporator, compressor, and other fan motors are all safe from corrosion by salt air. Another great thing about this is that it is variable capacity, variable speed, variant refrigerant flow unit.
Solair World
A new product from Solair World is this 100% Off Grid 48v DC Inverter Solar Air Conditioner. This is a great option for those looking for 100% green footsteps by making use of both solar power and battery power.
These are just some of the solar air conditioners that you can choose from. There are more off grid air conditioners that you can choose from.
For more side notes, you can contact the closest solar distributor to you so you can have more insider’s knowledge and for a wiser suggestion. They can also give you advice regarding battery requirements and what size of system you will need.
