Solar powered air conditioning would help!

In a recent article from the Los Angeles Times, the possibility of solar-powered air conditioning was revealed.  Or was it?  Using energy from the sun to cool off is not exactly breaking news.  In fact, solar attic fans, solar dog houses, solar panels on the new Toyota Prius…. all of these “inventions” already rely on solar energy to provide power to turn fans or A/C units.

Still, solar mirrors are, in fact, something new on which to report. More precisely, the mirrors are now being used to generate solar powered air conditioning in California.

Southern California Gas Company engineers installed technologies that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto special water pipes.  Using a solar thermal process, normally for solar hot water, the water that is heated by solar energy then provides energy for a thermal process in a chilling unit that then cools the water for air conditioning.  Observed David Berokoff a manager at the utility:

“When we tell people we heat water up only to cool it down, they don’t get it at first.  But all this technology has been around for a while. We’re just trying to bring it together so we can get it out to our customers as soon as possible.”

Solar mirrors are not the only way to cool your home using solar powered air conditioning.  In this video, the owners used solar evaporative cooling to save on energy costs:

Solar thermal panels can be used in a way to provide A/C, rather than hot water

But getting back to SoCal Gas and its solar mirrors…

Estimates are that using the new technology for cooling, energy costs can be slashed 60% or more.  Plus, the green aspect is a feather in the cap of many businesses.  It literally pays to be eco-friendly.

But don’t rush out and think you’ll find the solar mirrors for air conditioning soon.  In reality, the project is still in its research stages.  Solar-powered air conditioning will not be available to SoCal Gas customers for at least another 12-24 months.

The utility has been researching differing solar thermal panel-based technologies to determine which are most efficient and inexpensive for solar powered air conditioning.

Traditional vs. Solar powered air conditioning

Currently, the solar mirror arrays cost approximately $200,000 a piece, which does not help business owners save any money over traditional A/C units.  The new technology may eventually be half that cost, however!

So, how do the two systems differ?  In short, water is heated to temperatures around 200 degrees F, which is collected in a storage tank.  From there, the water is pumped through a chiller that reduces the temperature which is used in fan units for air conditioning.

What is surprising – perhaps to the non-engineer – is that the water actually has to be heated before it is chilled.  With the solar mirror system, the energy from the sun performs that step.  For traditional systems, gas or electricity is required instead.

In short, solar powered air conditioning is coming to the market in a number of technologies and types.  Whether you want to install a simple system, like a solar attic fan, or wait for the solar thermal panel options being developed in Southern California, soon there will be plenty of options to help keep you cool when the sun is shining bright.