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How much power(solar) do I need?
Just wondering. What would one need in order to power a refrigerator and or an AC unit. Either or, or both. From solar. Specifics here. Like electric needs and cost needs. How many panels would one need. What type. How much money are we talking about.
7 Answers
- roderick_youngLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Let's look at best case.
Let's assume you're tied to the grid right now, and will stay tied to the grid, so no batteries will be required.
A good refrigerator will use only 1 kWh per day. That's an acceptable amount to get off of solar.
The air conditioner is an entirely different matter. If it's just a little 5000 BTU wall unit, you can use a crude rule that every BTU is 1 kWh per year (see the link below). That means 5000 kWh per year to run the A/C under average use. If you live in a hot, humid area, increase that. If you live in a cool, dry area, decrease it.
Anyway, 5000 kWh per year is approximately how much our array generates, and that's a 3 kW array in San Jose, California. You would need a smaller or larger array, depending on how your yearly sun compares with ours.
The cost for the array was about $20,000 before rebates, two years ago. Possibly, prices have gone down somewhat. And your state may have rebates to reduce that price.
If you planned to run a massive, whole-house air conditioner off the array, that would be a lot of energy, and proportionately more cost.
Your best bet is always to invest in super-insulation first - that saves extreme money with or without a solar array. And also, if you get solar, it may be to your advantage to have the array offset only the most expensive part of your electricity bill, not generate 100% of your electricity.
Good luck in any case.
Source(s): http://download.sears.com/eg/195462.pdf http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/roderick/solar/photov... - Anonymous1 decade ago
assume a 5000 watt AC unit that runs 1/2 the time. That means you need a 5000 * 12 = 60 kW-hr electricity ($10/day). now you need a solar system to match. Since the sun shines only part of the time you'll need 60 Kw-hr over a 5 hour period or a 12 kW system. a 12 kW system will cost (without rebates) $90,000. You'll need batteries that will add $10,000. so $100,000/10 = 10,000 days to pay for the system thats 25 years.
- 6 years ago
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- fodaddy19Lv 71 decade ago
It won't be cost effective at all. Easily a few thousand dollars. Also keep in mind that since half the time it's dark out, it's unlikely that you'll have a large enough array to keep the fridge and/or AC running at all times.
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- Anonymous1 decade ago
Read the nameplate on your devices. It will tell you how much power they require. Then add the numbers up. You will have a total power consumption.
- 1 decade ago
i dont know exactly.. butt its the answer that the nimrod above me said is not true.. hes full of dog sh**