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.
- » See also: Altus Air Force Base is Flying High on New Green Award
- » Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Swamp cooler with an air to air heat-exchanger. The indoor air is cooled by passing through the heat exchanger. . . the heat exchanger is cooled by evaporating water (and yes, treated water)
So if we all collect some rain water; pipe it to our toilets, flush with it, that’s 30% of a homes water, & the carbon footprint from pumping it, treating it, pumping it to our houses, etc. Then if we can cool our air with some moore of the rain water, that would acctually be very water neutral.
Sorry if you live in a humid area. . . Houston, you have a problem. . . only going to drop the air temperature about 5 - 10 degrees; Austin, 10 - 20 degrees.
Rain Water Sizing requirements (approx) = family of 4 1,500 Gallons Per Month - flushing; same typical house for cooling 1,500 Gallons Per Month = Total of 3,000 Gallon storage needed for 1 inch per month area.
Food for thought. . . Marcus
I never heard a solar-powered air-conditioning before. I think it is beneficial especially this time when we are cutting off expenses.
i understand that it doesn’t add humidity. but does it remove it? this is a very important fact that needs distinction. if its 80% humidity outside, i need it to REMOVE moisture from my house, simply “not adding” humidity doesnt sound like the kind of feel a real a/c would give you.
Ok guys, I can really see a problem here in understanding the system. I have actually seen this work. It is no way related to a swamp cooler. If you understand the basics of refrigeration then you would know that a swamp cooler IS NOT an Air Conditioner, as it does not remove heat from the air. The Coolerado DOES remove heat thus it is an Air Conditioner. Secondly, you are correct in saying it is NOT a true Solar AC system, because a True solar system would use the suns energy to drive the heat exchange cycle. In reality, any AC system can be solar driven, it depends on how many PV panels you need to harness enough power. The Coolerado requires 4 x 200 watt panels which is very efficient indeed to cool an area of about 250 m2. Yes water temperature and humidity can effect the cooling cycle, but these can be overcome at a very inexpensive cost for the cooling it provides. As far as I understand, it can use tap water, grey water, bore water, i think it has even been tested on salt water with positive results. Have a look at the website and understand the product before you can it. It just shows how ignorant you are???
You are correct is asking if it removes humidity. NO it does not. What ever the humidity is outside will be supplied inside. The Coolerado never was meant to be effective in all conditions. When you use as much environmental efficient systems that use nature itself, you are also at natures disposal on some counts.
That is the same as a refrigerated system. They do not work in california when you have a unusual high ambient temperature. From my experience, most AC units fail at times of extreme heat instead of cooling your house.
Any solar panel setup can run an ac/heating unit provided the watts / KW are provided for accordingly. Sizing is critical.
Why does it need fresh outside air? Can it use return air as a conventional a/c? If it is hot and humdid, what is the efficantse of the unit?
My question is what kind of tempature difference are you able to achieve from air input to output, at 95 Deg ambient and 90 % humidity.
How does this puppy provide cool air at night?
let’s keep it real.
Try greenprm.com for a true AC unit running on renewable energy, off grid, not a glorified swamp cooler masquerading as an air conditioner.
or you can go down to walmart and get your $200 AC unit and run it through an inverter to a crap load of solar panels on the roof until the compressor fries in about 2-3 weeks.
Sounds like it might make perfect sense out West, where hot generally comes with dry. East of the Mississippi though, hot almost always comes with staggering humidity. Unfortunately, most of the comfort provided by AC is in the dehumidification, not the coolig, which is why many people can be comfortable at 90 degrees with 15% humidity, but almost no one is comfortable at 90% humidity, at virtually any temperature. (Cool and damp simply isn’t much improvement from hot and humid.)
I guess one could add a solar-powered dehumidifier, and run the Coolerator with the water pulled from the air, but there may be plenty of market share for this in hot, dry climates, without shoehorning it into applications for which it’s not so well suited.