If you re connected to the grid and you ve got the roof space installing enough solar panels to cover your entire electricity usage including ac is a very doable task and one that many homeowners have done before.
Run an ac with solar panels.
We suggest a battery bank of 800 amp hours.
Even with the air conditioner on high my solar panel system still makes enough power to add 2 000 watts into the batteries.
To follow the example above let s say you re looking to generate an additional 3 333 w to run your air conditioner in massachusetts.
To run an ac off solar power for an extended amount of time the ac will essentially need its own solar setup.
This number will be the number of solar panels necessary to cover your air conditioning needs.
A few factors determine how many solar panels you will require to run an air conditioner.
How much you use the air conditioner.
300 times 4 is 1200 watts.
As an example let s consider the amperage draw of our rv ac and how many hours per day we plan to run the unit.
A good rule of thumb is 4 hours.
You generally have two options for this an ac pump with inverter or a dc powered well pump designed for use in an off grid systems.
When it s hottest and the sun is shining the brightest i can make lots of power.
Using solar panels to run air conditioner units ac units use a lot of electricity but they re really no match for a well sized solar installation.
This is assuming you are considering using 12 volt rv grade panels.
This is also assuming of course you have a lot of battery power too.
With a properly sized solar system you can run a well from solar power.
Air conditioners typically use between 1 2kw 2 5kw of power and a typical solar panel system has an energy output of 2kw 4kw.
A solar panel can run an air conditioner but it ll use a large portion of your panel s capacity.
So if you have a powerful air conditioner you ll need to make sure your solar panel system can handle it.
The short answer is the number of solar panels depends on which solar panels and air conditioner you have.
Since a well pump could easily be the biggest electrical load in your off grid system it is worth taking the time to consider your options.
The advantage of solar powered air conditioning.
This allows me to run the ac full blast to keep my house nice and cool.
The size of the air conditioner and solar panels.
1200 watts divided by 1 000 equals 1 2 kwh produced per day.
You multiply the combined wattage of the solar panels by the number of hours sunlight they will receive per day.
You will need at least 1 800 watts of solar panels to run your rv air conditioner.