Okay, so I wanted to figure out how much solar power I’d need to run a 110V AC unit. You know, those standard air conditioners you find in most homes. It wasn’t as straightforward as I thought, but after some tinkering and a bit of research, I think I’ve got a handle on it.
First, I got out my trusty multimeter and checked the actual power draw of my AC. Turns out, it was pulling around 1500 watts when it was running full blast. That’s a bit more than I expected, but good to know.
Next, I had to think about how many hours a day I’d be running the AC. Realistically, I figured about 8 hours a day during the hot summer months. So, that’s 1500 watts times 8 hours, which comes out to 12 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day.
Now, onto the solar panels. I looked up some 300-watt panels ’cause they seem to be pretty common. I learned that a 300-watt panel doesn’t actually produce 300 watts all day long. It depends on how much sunlight it gets. On a good, sunny day, you might get about 5 hours of solid power generation.
Doing some quick math, I figured a 300-watt panel could generate around 1.5 kWh per day (300 watts x 5 hours). To cover my 12 kWh daily need, I’d need about 8 of these panels (12 kWh / 1.5 kWh per panel). That seemed like a lot!
Here’s what I did to estimate:
- Checked AC power draw: Used a multimeter to find the actual wattage.
- Estimated daily usage: Figured out how many hours I’d run the AC.
- Looked up solar panel output: Found out how much power a panel generates in a day.
- Calculated the number of panels: Divided my daily energy needs by the panel’s daily output.
Of course, I also had to think about batteries. I didn’t want the AC to shut off every time a cloud passed by. I found out that a 200Ah battery could run a typical AC for about 2.4 hours. But batteries are a whole other story! Maybe I’ll dive into that another time.
So, yeah, running a 110V AC on solar is doable, but it takes some planning. You need to get the right number of panels, figure out your energy usage, and maybe even invest in some batteries. It’s not as simple as just plugging a panel into your AC, but it’s definitely achievable.
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