Coolerado Shows Off Solar-Powered Air Conditioner
I had the chance to take a look at a Coolerado air-conditioning unit this past August at the West Coast Green Conference. At the time, the company was showing off an energy-efficient model that uses thermodynamics to cool outside air without chemical refrigerants.
Now Coolerado has added another element to its air conditioners: solar power. According to Coolerado, any solar contractor can easily work with installers in the company’s network to add solar photovoltaic systems to air conditioning units. A demonstration solar-powered Coolerado air-conditioner is on display now at RETECH 2009 in Las Vegas.
This is NOT a solar air conditioner - it is not even an air conditioner in the first place, it is a swamp cooler run by dc-powered fans and pumps that so-happen to have a solar source. Actually there are solar air conditioners on the market, see solarpanelsplus.com or solarsa.com. You guys need to tighten up a bit.
You are right. This is not a Solar AC. it seems to be a traditional cooler powered by solar electricity.
A solar ac uses refrigerant cycle to cool air and rather than using solar electricity, a solar ac uses heat from sunlight.
Swamp cooler it is….I like how they barely mention that you need the water hook-up and that it uses around 4 GALLONS of water an hour. I guess that makes the that portable unit a little tougher out of the city.
Ghosting the Trees - That’s a good point about the water. The thing is, it takes water to generate electricity, too. We just don’t see it bc that water is consumed at the plant. I guess the question is, does it take more or less than 4 gallons of water to power a standard AC unit for an hour?
I have no idea how much water power stations use apart from “kind of a lot.” Does anyone else know?
Hi-
Thanks for all of your comments! Let me add a couple of clarifications.
First, this is definitely NOT a swamp cooler. A swamp cooler provides direct contact between the water and the air to be cooled, adding humidity in the process, and not removing heat from the air. The Coolerado units actually remove heat from the air, and do not add humidity, as the water used for cooling is separated from the air. By removing heat, they qualify as air conditioners.
Second, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Co, a Coolerado unit connected to the grid is net water neural. As all electricity uses water for generation, the water not used by the electric company due to the energy savings from a Coolerado unit (600 watts vs. say 6K watts for a traditional DX unit) completely makes up for the water used to cool the air.
At Coolerado we’re very committed to the environment and doing our part to keeping our world clean. Please feel free to go to our web site and send us an email, or even give us a call. We’re happy to hear all of your comments.
–Tom
OK, I have a question. Suppose someone collected rainwater as the water source. Firstly, what water pressure is required? Secondly, how does the temperature of the water affect the cooling efficiency? Saying I had a rainwater tank that sat outside, and in the summer warmed to about 80 degrees, would that affect the cooling efficiency?
Got the big issue with the water. But, since we make poor use of our water to begin with (as a friend notes, we are the only people in the world who p*ss in potable water) - will this think operate on filtered gray water? Would that make a difference? If so, how much?
I think that we are rapidly coming to a point where we need to get over our national case of the “icks” with gray water uses.
E.
can fresh water lakes or rivers be used as the water source, like the old Fla. heat pumps?
I think this would be good on lake and rivers. Why not?
Ick!
Okay, I want a solar powered small window air conditioner that doesn’t need water, just plug the air conditioner into the solar panels, and voila! cool air. Is there anything like that?