Solar thermal air conditioning. How does this work?
How Does A Solar Thermal Air Conditioner Work?
- Hybrid Solar Air Conditioning, also known as Solar Thermal Air Conditioning, is a revolutionary system that uses the power of solar sun heat energy to assist a high efficiency compressor to reduce energy use dramatically. Like a traditional central air conditioning system, there is a compressor and an air handler, but added is a solar thermal collector mounted on the roof.
According to the manufacturer , the Solar Thermal Air Conditioning system takes a high efficiency 16 SEER compressor adapted to circulate refrigerant to the solar collector. The solar collector, made of evacuated glass tubes, superheats the refrigerant, making the job of the compressor easier, and thereby reducing energy use.
A conventional air conditioning system uses the compressor (powered by electricity, an average 22.8 amps for a 5 Ton system) to pressurize and heat the refrigerant gas up to about 170 degrees. It then travels into the outside condensing coils where it changes from a gas into a saturated gas (partially liquid). This mostly occurs in the final end of the condensing coil. From there the saturated gas passes through an expansion device that allows the refrigerant to become a gas again. Once this happens it can absorb heat from the air passing through the inside coil of the air conditioner. From there the refrigerant goes back to the compressor where it starts the entire cycle again.
The benefits include:
- Reduce your AC electricity consumption
- Efficiently cool your home and start enjoying it
- Enjoy the comfort of air conditioning at a lower cost and consider our other products
What is A Tri-brid System? Solar Electric, Solar Water Heating, and Solar AC
Ask how you can fully benefit with a Tri-brid system
A solar thermal air conditioning system uses the same basic equipment as a conventional system with a specialized solar collector that is placed between the compressor and the condensing coils. The primary task of the compressor is to pressurize and heat the refrigerant. The hotter it gets the system becomes more efficient. A solar thermal air conditioning system uses a highly efficient vacuum tube collector with a 3rd generation easy access manifold. The collector heats using the FREE power of the sun to superheat the refrigerant to approximately 280 degrees above what the compressor would be able to heat it with electricity. The resulting efficiency derived from the solar collector allows for the refrigerant to work more efficiently with no additional moving parts or motors. This increases the ability of the gas to change back into a liquid much more quickly and dramatically reduces the energy requirement of the compressor. The gas now condenses back into saturated gas in the first third of the condensing coil not the final third. Therefore by the time the refrigerant reaches the expansion device in the inside coil, it is already almost a liquid. This allows the near liquid refrigerant to be more efficient at absorbing heat, making it cooler in the inside coil, delivering colder, drier air to the building.
