Now the million dollar question is how much energy can be captured from a set of solar panels and would it suffice to power a central A/c. It takes a lot of solar photo voltaic panels to power a typically efficient air conditioner. And buying a whole lot of solar cells will require tons of cash. When you look for solar A/cs in the market, you will find companies who have to speak volumes about their product. But the bottom line remains that they install a huge whack of solar electric panels on your roof in order to extract enough power for your existing air conditioner. Let’s take a look into details.
Let’s assume that you have a moderately sized house that requires 4 tons of AC to cool it efficiently. Now you are seeking to cut down your utility bills and emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore you decide to replace the system with solar powered air conditioner. Well, going by the market estimate you will need to invest close to $6,000 to cut down to upgrade it to a 2.5 ton AC system powered by solar cells. .
Let’s compare the costs. The cost of a 4-ton AC system with a SEER of 16 would be $2000. On the other hand, the cost of 2.5 ton system with a SEER of 16 would be $1500.Now if you power the 2.5 ton A/c with a solar power, your annual operational cost will be $21,000. If the 4 ton unit is powered by sun’s energy, then the cost would come to $2300. So you make a saving of $200. Now if you use the grid system to power your 2.5 ton Ac then it comes to roughly $11.000. The 4 ton A/c is powered by the d-grid system would come to $7000. If you look at all the data solar powered air conditioning system is still much too expensive.
Using solar power to run air conditioner has been called pure tokenism. Other approaches to minimize greenhouse gas reduction, such as geothermal power are much affordable and effective.