Solar mini split

[fishing fool]

What do you all think? For under $5,000 to keep garage or house (main living area) cool or hot just off solar. If ran in house this would keep cool for most of the day and then at night the main A/C would come on to keep cool at night.

Solar DC Air Conditioning Systems

www.hotspotenergy.com

 

[boatpi]

I bet it needs a battery and a large one. Most would just do house solar for the credit

 

[fishing fool]

$2,095 $1,700 $ 900 $ 299 $4,994

DC Solar Air Conditioner 12000BTU 4x 400w panel kit with grounding kit & Flush Mount Rail Kit (72C3) 4 x Trojan SCS225 12V 130AH batteries 1 x PWM Charge Controller ~Total System Estimated Cost *Wiring & connection materials not included. Includes estimated battery cost of $900, batteries supplied by customer and are not shipped or billed by HotSpot.

It only runs when the sun is out no need for a big battery

I bet it needs a battery and a large one. Most would just do house solar for the credit

 

[fishing fool]

Watch this it will explain it all

 

[monkeyswrench]

Read some stories about it being common in the middle-east. Depends on the cost, and would be nice if it was able to run on shore power as well.

 

[Uncle Dave]

$2,095 $1,700 $ 900 $ 299 $4,994

DC Solar Air Conditioner 12000BTU 4x 400w panel kit with grounding kit & Flush Mount Rail Kit (72C3) 4 x Trojan SCS225 12V 130AH batteries 1 x PWM Charge Controller ~Total System Estimated Cost *Wiring & connection materials not included. Includes estimated battery cost of $900, batteries supplied by customer and are not shipped or billed by HotSpot.

It only runs when the sun is out no need for a big battery

Solar AC is always neat, but 264 lb and 520AH of trojans is by most opinions - a pretty big battery.

 

[BLOWN HOWARD]

I would be interested to see this the idea seems pretty legit and the foot print of the batteries isn't much

 

[DRYHEAT]

For an off the grid situation it might be fine, but why bother with all the complexity on the grid, I just don’t see the savings.

 

[Uncle Dave]

For an off the grid situation it might be fine, but why bother with all the complexity on the grid, I just don’t see the savings.

Yup - IF you have a grid - just grid tie the solar and run an efficient split.

 

[Boat 405]

It requires X amount of energy to heat or cool a house. Just saying.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Go for it! You will be able to claim the solar tax credit for 26% back on your taxes for everything except the ac (panels, controller, battery, wires etc)

If you really want to make it work with batteries ditch the lead acid and go with lifepo4. You will only need 260 ah of lithium instead of 520 ah lead.

I run 2 Coleman 15000 btu ac units fully off the grid with solar all summer long. I don’t even have a meter on the property

 

[mesquito_creek]

Yup - IF you have a grid - just grid tie the solar and run an efficient split.

In that video they claim that the 12k btu unit only uses about 500 watts… what type of unit is more efficient than that?

 

[Uncle Dave]

In that video they claim that the 12k btu unit only uses about 500 watts… what type of unit is more efficient than that?

If that number is real, not many, but the efficiency of that particular unit had nothing to do with the point I was making.

 

[Riverbound]

12000 btu is only 1 ton. Can’t think of many garages that would stay cool with that. That’s sized more for maybe a large bedroom or or Al living area.

 

[Echo Lodge]

DC Solar Air Conditioner Heat Pump | Solar Air Conditioning | Solar Heating | Manufacturers

www.hotspotenergy.com

This would be perfect for my mobile at Echo! Going to look into it.

 

[Boat 405]

A single 1 ton unit won't do much in Havasu during summer.

FWIW. I have 4 tons just for my garage in Havasu, 60 ft deep 15 ft tall 16 ft wide. Plus a two car 22 wide 22 long 10 feet tall.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

This thing is smaller than most all rooftop RV A/C's. Not worth it. This is smaller than what we typically put in most IT closets.

 

[mesquito_creek]

If that number is real, not many, but the efficiency of that particular unit had nothing to do with the point I was making.

I am suspect of the 500 watts also but even if it 1000 watts that’s pretty good… my 15k btu Coleman’s pull 1600-1800 on the amp clamp

 

[fishing fool]

California rolling blackouts is the best reason to be "off grid" Like right now when they tell you to shut things down.

For an off the grid situation it might be fine, but why bother with all the complexity on the grid, I just don’t see the savings.

Yup - IF you have a grid - just grid tie the solar and run an efficient split.

 

[Deckin Around]

If you have the available house power also, I would use an inverter to convert the dc battery bank to ac and use a regular unit so you can also have it wired as an option to run off grid or generator power? There are tons more options for non DC units.

Plan another $900 every 2 years to replace the Trojans. I would go Lipo battery from the start, more money but they can drain to 0% and have 20,000+ life cycles. The trojans will die if you drain them past 30% regularly. Faster Death if you ever drain them to 0.

 

[Paradox]

We have a smaller 730 sq. ft. 3 car garage with what I think is about 10’ ceilings. As such, I think this system would work. I’d buy in if I could get a quality install for around this money coupled with reasonable code compliant / licensed labor costs..