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? asked in EnvironmentGreen Living · 4 weeks ago

How many solar panels do I need to power my air conditioner?

I recently bought a 1hp air conditioner and another 1.5hp air conditioner. They're used 2015 model from Panasonic. My friends told me that air conditioners consume A LOTTT of electricity. So, I kinda wanna find out how many solar panels do I need to power those 2 air conditioners for like 6 to 10 hours usage on a daily basis. 

2 Answers

Relevance
  • 3 weeks ago

    Far more than you can afford

  • Anonymous
    4 weeks ago

    There are many factors in play.  The size of the room and insulation, in a small well insulated room, the air conditioner will not run often after the room and the things in it, have reached the desired temperature.  Then there is the amount of sunlight coming in through the windows, Older houses, which have little insulation used to have bigger roof  overhangs to keep the summer sun out but allowed the winter sun in.

    What you can do is buy a Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor or something similar and use that to monitor the electricity used by your air conditioning units in Watt hours.  Divide that by 3 and that will give you the total wattage of solar panels you need.  You will want to add batteries, the amount depends on the time of day you use it.

    My guess is that you will need about 2 - 3 kW in solar for your 2 systems.  The good news is that you can start small and see how well it works for your conditions.  Look on youtube for milk crate battery by Will Prowse and just add solar panels.  That battery can cope with up to 1000W (1kW) of solar panels, although I would go with something like 800W tops, and run the system non-stop for about 6 hours.  (which, depending on your situation,  might be enough for one air conditioner)

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