sushidog
Abita Springs, LA
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Does anyone have any info or experience with this? They advertise the EER of over 30 -wow.
Solar a/c
I'm planning on full-timing (if my house ever sells.) I've seen mini-split inverter models like these, but never a true DC a/c. This looks like a sweet set-up for boondocking at Quartzsite, slab city or the like. No word of the price on the website. Maybe if you have to ask, you can't afford it. 
Thanks,
Chip
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pulsar
Lewisville, NC
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Moved from Technology Corner to Tech Issues.
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2oldman
Indio CA
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Ok.. let's get started.
Is this believable? Will it work? Well, as with most fantastic claims, SOME of it is believable.
First, the unit is so wonderful and 'efficient' because there's no inverter. They've worded this carefully: ". (best use of solar power) because there are no losses associated with converting DC power from the solar panels into AC power to run a standard air conditioner. " That is a true statement. Score one for them.
Second: Wattage/BTU claims don't make sense (to me).
17,000 BTU Nominal Capacity
23 Amps at 24VDC
Nominal 552 Watts
My Dometic 13,500 btu air runs at 11amps of 120vac, or about 1350 watts. This 24vdc unit is 23 x 24= 552 watts. How is less than 1/2 the wattage going to get MORE cooling than my 120v rooftop unit? It isn't.
Third: This statement: " DC17 uses approximately half of the number of solar panels that would be required by the same capacity high efficiency SEER-21 AC-powered air conditioner running on solar panels through an inverter. " This to me is nonsense. A watt is a watt, and inverters aren't that inefficient. What's a SEER-21?
Fourth: "Proprietary Rotary Vane Compressor provides high efficiency operation and slow start to avoid high inrush current at startup." Does anybody know what this is?
Fifth: "Quite operation." Oh please.. quite? I might expect that misspelling on here, but not in professional copy.
And.. they go on and on about panels and batteries. Needless to say, I'm extremely skeptical. My main issue is with the BTU /wattage figures. They don't make sense. Will it work? I'm sure it does. Will it work well enough on a 90* day in the desert? I don't think so. Perhaps if you install 2 or 3 of these.. maybe. But I'm sure the cost of that will be astronomical.
Pass on this.
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Briteskys
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Sailbad
Oklahoma City
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It is interesting. I need to do some home work before I can make an intellegent statement. On the good side they are using a rotary compressor. But you need minimum 4 200 watt panels? And how many batteries?
I understand why they are using a 24volt system but we would sure have to make some changes to use it with out 12 volt systems.
At least they are trying.......and that's a good thing.
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BobsYourUncle
Surrey, BC Canada
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2oldman wrote:
Fifth: "Quite operation." Oh please.. quite? I might expect that misspelling on here, but not in professional copy.
spelling. . . . . ahhhh!!! Illiteracy should not show up in a professional document - agreed.
Maybe quite means "Not quite" 
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sushidog
Abita Springs, LA
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Thanks for everyone's input. I just took a closer look at the 12k BTU TOYO DC mini-split inverter a/c found in my second link. How about if someone would just remove the ac to dc inverter (what we call a converter) and run it off straight DC from the batteries. That should improve the efficiency some and you would get the benefits of a DC motor and a rotary compressor. Their 12k BTU a/c has a 21 SEER with the inverter. Removing the inverter should raise the efficiency by at least 10%. $1,500 for an a/c with a heat pump with that level of efficiency doesn't sound bad.
Efficiency is everything. I have a 8k BTU high efficiency a/c window shaker in my bedroom that actually draws less current than my 5k BTU a/c in my computer room. If you went this way, you could piece together any type PV solar/battery system you wanted rather than buy a high priced packaged system. It seems doable, but it would probably take at least 8 batteries to get you through the night - and that's in a well insulated RV. It would be interesting to see what it's actual kw/hr draw would be using a kill-a-watt meter.
Has anyone here used any type of mini-split a/c in their RV?
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MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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reason for low power draw (2) pieces, like commercial/industrial units that use '[i[chill water' and cooling towers, not water, but the freon is dispersed in a much larger system under lower HEAD pressure and uses a low power compressor
system diagram
outside unit the compressor
this thing takes up way too much space for the avg RV, its for an OFF grid stick house
minimum is 1000 amphrs of battery and 600 watts of solar, more of each is better
and all of this is just for the A/C not any other HOME POWER NEEDS
YES i believe it's real and works, but unless you want to dedicate the rear wall of your bus to the A/C unit and your completely cover the roof with solar panels, you aren't going to be using it in an RV
the inside piece is 26"by22" the outside is 42"by13"
you could skip the solar and run it direct from the batteries at night and recharge the batteries during the day with a generator
* This post was
edited 07/02/09 11:14pm by MrWizard *
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smkettner
Southern California
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2oldman wrote:Second: Wattage/BTU claims don't make sense (to me).
17,000 BTU Nominal Capacity
23 Amps at 24VDC
Nominal 552 Watts
My Dometic 13,500 btu air runs at 11amps of 120vac, or about 1350 watts. This 24vdc unit is 23 x 24= 552 watts. How is less than 1/2 the wattage going to get MORE cooling than my 120v rooftop unit? It isn't.
Keep in mind an air conditioner does not make cold. An air conditioner transfers heat. The energy it takes to move the heat will depend on efficiency. 30 SEER compared to maybe 13 for the Dometic will take less than half the power to move the heat. So 11 amps might get to 5 maybe 4 amps to run this unit.
I have a hard time believing 30 SEER rating but if true it may actually be possible.
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nny12972
NY
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The bottom line is....where does the 12V/24V come from? My 4 ea. Trojan L-16s will allow me to run my 7.1K A/C (compared to .552K) for awhile every nite before I crash without "over-discharging" the batteries, but I can't do that more two or three days w/o full sun summer days to re-charge...the OP A/C might take care of a Teardrop TT, though!
J
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