How many solar panels do you need to run Air Conditioning?

It's often said that solar panels produce enough electricity to power everything in your home. What about the air conditioning unit — the most energy-demanding appliance in the house? In this video, Jason is going to explore how viable it is to run an AC on solar energy.

00:27 - Figuring out AC energy consumption
02:00 - Running costs of aircon
03:00 - Using solar power to run an AC
05:25 - Using summer boost for solar system to run an aircon

Running an air conditioner on solar panels has its benefits and challenges. The main benefit of solar and air conditioning duo is that an AC unit is most needed in summer when solar panels produce extra energy. The main challenge is that solar panels don’t work at night — if you want to run a solar AC at night, you’ll have to store energy in a battery. When picking a solar system for an air conditioner: pay attention: solar panels usually work at about 70-80% of their rated power capacity. On hot days, they lose about 10% of their efficiency due to heat losses.

While true solar air conditioners are rare (that is a portable aircon with solar panels), you perfectly use energy from a solar system for the needs of an aircon. First, you have to install a solar system with a DC-AC inverter. The system must be large enough to run your home appliances and an aircon in particular. Even though an HVAC system is very energy-demanding, three 400W panels would be enough to run a portable solar air conditioner. A solar-powered air conditioner means a lower electric bill and a lower load for the commercial grid.

About A1 SolarStore: A1 SolarStore is a North American online store of solar equipment with the largest chain of fulfillment centers in the U.S. It was founded in 2018 in Miami, Florida by Alexey Kruglov and Sergey Fedorov. A1 SolarStore participates in RE+ events to cooperate and stay in touch with the leaders of the American solar industry on a regular basis. The company partnered with Solar Energy International (SEI), a non-profit organization from Colorado that educates and trains students, alumni and end-users of solar energy. A1 SolarStore Magazine and YouTube channel teach about the basics of solar energy and the impact that it brings.

[Cajundaddydave]

Two years into a 5.6kw solar system on a 2000 sq ft home in Idaho I can say that it covers all of our electrical needs. We typically only use A/C June through August and this is when solar production is highest, producing about 34kwh per day. In winter we use 1/2 as much electricity and our solar panels produce about 1/2 as much energy. This is a pretty good match for our lifestyle.

[timcat]

My mini-split has been running on 90% solar for 10 years already.

[ArndBrugman]

How much for a 12kBTU unit.
btw the math is off: 25% lower is not the same as 25% on top of it, its 33%

[McDIY]

SoCal electricity is $0.40/kwh in tier one and $0.50 in tier two plus taxes and fees. 🤬