Air conditioners typically use between 1 2kw 2 5kw of power and a typical solar panel system has an energy output of 2kw 4kw.
Run an ac with solar panels.
To follow the example above let s say you re looking to generate an additional 3 333 w to run your air conditioner in massachusetts.
Example rv ac daily amperage draw 150 amps hr x 5 hrs day 750 ah day.
When it s hottest and the sun is shining the brightest i can make lots of power.
We suggest a battery bank of 800 amp hours.
As an example let s consider the amperage draw of our rv ac and how many hours per day we plan to run the unit.
This is assuming you are considering using 12 volt rv grade panels.
So we ll assume these to give you an idea.
This allows me to run the ac full blast to keep my house nice and cool.
The advantage of solar powered air conditioning.
1200 watts divided by 1 000 equals 1 2 kwh produced per day.
The size of the air conditioner and solar panels.
You multiply the combined wattage of the solar panels by the number of hours sunlight they will receive per day.
The short answer is the number of solar panels depends on which solar panels and air conditioner you have.
This is also assuming of course you have a lot of battery power too.
Using solar panels to run air conditioner units ac units use a lot of electricity but they re really no match for a well sized solar installation.
A few factors determine how many solar panels you will require to run an air conditioner.
A good rule of thumb is 4 hours.
With a properly sized solar system you can run a well from solar power.
To run an ac off solar power for an extended amount of time the ac will essentially need its own solar setup.
This number will be the number of solar panels necessary to cover your air conditioning needs.
Since a well pump could easily be the biggest electrical load in your off grid system it is worth taking the time to consider your options.
If you re connected to the grid and you ve got the roof space installing enough solar panels to cover your entire electricity usage including ac is a very doable task and one that many homeowners have done before.
So if you have a powerful air conditioner you ll need to make sure your solar panel system can handle it.
Even with the air conditioner on high my solar panel system still makes enough power to add 2 000 watts into the batteries.
300 times 4 is 1200 watts.
Number of panels additional watts needed watts per panel.
You generally have two options for this an ac pump with inverter or a dc powered well pump designed for use in an off grid systems.