2000 bucks well spent to keep the Mrs quiet. Blissfullness. 48v 100ah runs it 24/7. With an average of 4kw daily. Big thank you for the video. Have a nice day Sir.
Nice video 🫶. I just run two 100w pannels in series on my garage feeding a 100 amp hour lithium battery and one 100w panel on our camper van. Pretty much a pet project and back up power supply for outages. It might only keep my fridge cold for 10 hours but hey thats something. 😅 1600w honda generator if its out for days god willing never 🙏
I am very fascinated by the new breed of solar mini-splits. ACDC makes one and EG4 makes one. There are a number of others offered directly from China on Alibaba. You might find it interesting as well. I think this is going to be the holy grail for heating and cooling in places like Africa where electricity is expensive and infrastructure is poor. Solar panels run directly into the mini-split and it will run when the sun shines. The mini-split also takes (optional) power from the grid (or solar set up/solar power generator). Mini-splits are more effcient than window units. Since people like it cool all night long one could also oversize the unit and cool thermal mass (Ground, concrete, water, other rooms in a building) allowing the cool to stick around past sunset. A limited additional battery setup could allow for some running of the system into the evening or all night. In places like Arizona where electric prices are crazy, these systems can pay for themselves in a year or two. The neat thing is they are simple, and no electric permit is required as the solar runs right into the unit. Heating and cooling is usually the top power demand of homes. A 12,000 BTU unit is listed at $1300 without panels, which is not that much more expensive that just a regular mini-split. All these mini-splits have been getting cheaper and cheaper over the last couple of years, while inflation has taken most other goods the other direction.
Trying to cool a home in southern part of africa with an average of 35-40°c ambient temp and sometimes very high levels of humidit translates to a much highter btu rating. For every droplet of water that's more energy required. So a typical 14ft x 14ft room would require about 1.5hp (14400BTU) to avoid running the system at 100% all day. I stay in Namibia on an offgrid farm for months. For the AirCon, I would prefer it ran in the evenings to about 2am when ambient temps dip to much cooler. And i cant justify the cost just for the AirCon. I am currently getting the new bits for upgrading the solar system to 24v 400ah. Highest current i need is for the kettle/ coffee machine/water heater. But now I have an idea of the kwh needed in real terms??? And not to highlight the geopolitics of the world. Getting solar related items in africa is super expensive. I live in England and get lithium into africa always seems like the powers that be restrains sending solar bits to africa. Crazy politics but we all have insane leaders in todays world so no surprise. Uk checks and seizes solar panels and lithium batteries for export under the waste regulations 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. Cheeky surds
@@zonta71 Interesting. I have traveled extensively, but not in Africa. It is interesting to observe how different climate control systems develop due to different needs is various parts of the world. In the southern USA, humid summers can be miserable. I understand that about half of the energy that goes into air conditioning actually is used to dehumidify air. In the USA, air conditioning is only one portion of the solution. Most homes here start with strategic planting of trees to provide shade, homes are thoughtfully designed with good architecture, and site layout, then they are well insulated, and finally AC systems and ventilation systems are put in place. All of these system support each other. While wood framed houses are typical in much of America, some areas like Florida, use concrete as it is termite resistant. In my community the AC needs of homes vary greatly. Some homes require three to four times the AC to be comfortable. Many buildings still in use in America, and most of our design practices, predate widespread use of AC; so keeping homes cool was a big deal. Africa has had a lot of challenges and has adopted different construction tactics to deal with them. Many people have lived on the brink of survival, built homes out of what was available and have not had the opportunity to experiment with exotic building materials and learn like other places have. I understand most homes in Africa use heavy cement walls for thermal mass cooling, and I don't think insulation is used much. Mini-split Air conditioning systems are about twice to three times more effcient than window units, or central AC units. The also gain efficiency by running all the time. This makes smaller units able to cool greater areas. A unit that is only powered by solar is only going to work when the sun shines. It is possible to supplement these units with grid power, grids in Africa are very unstable and power is expensive. Solar powered AC can offset the heavy mid day peak demands, of AC and relieve grids of mid day demand. China is quickly adopting Air conditioning, and think africa is going to as well. It is going to take more than just slapping an AC window unit in every house. I think Africa is going to need to thoughtfully redesign houses, incorporate other building materials, and change the culture to fully embrace western lifestyle.
@@zonta71 All of a homes systems need to work together. Solar AC can be used to cool the actual temperature of one room, or portion of a home, in africa this might be cooling down the walls on the inner sleeping chambers, or a living room. There are heat recovery ventilators (simple technology that is overpriced in America) to allow for ventilation and there are chemical methods of removing humidity. Home science is an interesting and complex field of operation.
@cryptickcryptick2241 you make a valid point in regards of the design and method of building in africa. Concrete and cement store the heat and turns the house into a day time e oven. I have looked into designs and my option is leaning towards rammed earth method. I will be starting a small build next year using rammed earthed with relatively higher that normal ceilings. I have also looked at the middle east designs but I noticed its all airconned even kitchens so back to old style designs with focus on channeling the excess heat through heat vents. I am also considering using geothermal cooling as the temps at 2m depth is closer to 18°c. All fun. I think my best opti9n energy wise is the geothermal cooling and the rammed earth walls. Am considering 24" rammed earth wall for the outside and have all internal walls from normal brick and mortar. Thank you for your reply Sir. And its a pleasure meeting another traveller. 1luv
@cryptickcryptick2241 yes you are bang on point. They all work together if applied as an holistic solution. That will be the way to go with a self build. Thank you for the reply.
For anyone interested, I have a 2000w and a 1500w cnswipower 48v inverter both running a 6k btu window unit individually. The 1500w occasionally wont start the unit and will throw an error code 4 overload. I run them both to where they never cycle off all day so it's not a big deal I just turn it off and back on, but a 3000w may not be necessary as my 2000w has never missed a beat. Just fyi
@@oFFgriDLife27 thank you so much for replying! I just wondered because I am starting my system. I have the same size air conditioner, Victron controller similar to yours the same exact power inverter. I got for 100 amp hour litime batteries and my wife really likes it cool in the bedroom! Lol.
@benjamindrew9232 you are better off buying a 9k btu mini split and keep the door to your room closed. I can keep mine at 72-73 when the rest of the 🏠 is 80-82f for less than 2kwh used all night.
@littlerascalstacker2721 that's why I'm glad to live in California. Our high temps are the same as yours but our lows get into the mid 50s so I don't have to run the ac all night long just the first 3-4hrs... that eats up 1-1.5kwh.
2000 bucks well spent to keep the Mrs quiet. Blissfullness. 48v 100ah runs it 24/7. With an average of 4kw daily. Big thank you for the video. Have a nice day Sir.
Super helpful thank you!
Nice video 🫶. I just run two 100w pannels in series on my garage feeding a 100 amp hour lithium battery and one 100w panel on our camper van. Pretty much a pet project and back up power supply for outages. It might only keep my fridge cold for 10 hours but hey thats something. 😅 1600w honda generator if its out for days god willing never 🙏
Nice setup!
i learned it does take lots more because of location.. actual sun hours seasonally.. with cloudy times & days.. overcast times.. & full time drain.
Nice set up! Look forward to seeing more.
great system!
the wife comment made me glad im single!
I am very fascinated by the new breed of solar mini-splits. ACDC makes one and EG4 makes one. There are a number of others offered directly from China on Alibaba. You might find it interesting as well. I think this is going to be the holy grail for heating and cooling in places like Africa where electricity is expensive and infrastructure is poor. Solar panels run directly into the mini-split and it will run when the sun shines. The mini-split also takes (optional) power from the grid (or solar set up/solar power generator). Mini-splits are more effcient than window units. Since people like it cool all night long one could also oversize the unit and cool thermal mass (Ground, concrete, water, other rooms in a building) allowing the cool to stick around past sunset. A limited additional battery setup could allow for some running of the system into the evening or all night. In places like Arizona where electric prices are crazy, these systems can pay for themselves in a year or two. The neat thing is they are simple, and no electric permit is required as the solar runs right into the unit. Heating and cooling is usually the top power demand of homes. A 12,000 BTU unit is listed at $1300 without panels, which is not that much more expensive that just a regular mini-split. All these mini-splits have been getting cheaper and cheaper over the last couple of years, while inflation has taken most other goods the other direction.
Trying to cool a home in southern part of africa with an average of 35-40°c ambient temp and sometimes very high levels of humidit translates to a much highter btu rating. For every droplet of water that's more energy required. So a typical 14ft x 14ft room would require about 1.5hp (14400BTU) to avoid running the system at 100% all day. I stay in Namibia on an offgrid farm for months. For the AirCon, I would prefer it ran in the evenings to about 2am when ambient temps dip to much cooler. And i cant justify the cost just for the AirCon. I am currently getting the new bits for upgrading the solar system to 24v 400ah. Highest current i need is for the kettle/ coffee machine/water heater. But now I have an idea of the kwh needed in real terms??? And not to highlight the geopolitics of the world. Getting solar related items in africa is super expensive. I live in England and get lithium into africa always seems like the powers that be restrains sending solar bits to africa. Crazy politics but we all have insane leaders in todays world so no surprise. Uk checks and seizes solar panels and lithium batteries for export under the waste regulations 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. Cheeky surds
@@zonta71 Interesting. I have traveled extensively, but not in Africa. It is interesting to observe how different climate control systems develop due to different needs is various parts of the world. In the southern USA, humid summers can be miserable. I understand that about half of the energy that goes into air conditioning actually is used to dehumidify air. In the USA, air conditioning is only one portion of the solution. Most homes here start with strategic planting of trees to provide shade, homes are thoughtfully designed with good architecture, and site layout, then they are well insulated, and finally AC systems and ventilation systems are put in place. All of these system support each other. While wood framed houses are typical in much of America, some areas like Florida, use concrete as it is termite resistant. In my community the AC needs of homes vary greatly. Some homes require three to four times the AC to be comfortable. Many buildings still in use in America, and most of our design practices, predate widespread use of AC; so keeping homes cool was a big deal. Africa has had a lot of challenges and has adopted different construction tactics to deal with them. Many people have lived on the brink of survival, built homes out of what was available and have not had the opportunity to experiment with exotic building materials and learn like other places have. I understand most homes in Africa use heavy cement walls for thermal mass cooling, and I don't think insulation is used much. Mini-split Air conditioning systems are about twice to three times more effcient than window units, or central AC units. The also gain efficiency by running all the time. This makes smaller units able to cool greater areas. A unit that is only powered by solar is only going to work when the sun shines. It is possible to supplement these units with grid power, grids in Africa are very unstable and power is expensive. Solar powered AC can offset the heavy mid day peak demands, of AC and relieve grids of mid day demand. China is quickly adopting Air conditioning, and think africa is going to as well. It is going to take more than just slapping an AC window unit in every house. I think Africa is going to need to thoughtfully redesign houses, incorporate other building materials, and change the culture to fully embrace western lifestyle.
@@zonta71 All of a homes systems need to work together. Solar AC can be used to cool the actual temperature of one room, or portion of a home, in africa this might be cooling down the walls on the inner sleeping chambers, or a living room. There are heat recovery ventilators (simple technology that is overpriced in America) to allow for ventilation and there are chemical methods of removing humidity. Home science is an interesting and complex field of operation.
@cryptickcryptick2241 you make a valid point in regards of the design and method of building in africa. Concrete and cement store the heat and turns the house into a day time e oven. I have looked into designs and my option is leaning towards rammed earth method. I will be starting a small build next year using rammed earthed with relatively higher that normal ceilings. I have also looked at the middle east designs but I noticed its all airconned even kitchens so back to old style designs with focus on channeling the excess heat through heat vents. I am also considering using geothermal cooling as the temps at 2m depth is closer to 18°c. All fun. I think my best opti9n energy wise is the geothermal cooling and the rammed earth walls. Am considering 24" rammed earth wall for the outside and have all internal walls from normal brick and mortar. Thank you for your reply Sir. And its a pleasure meeting another traveller. 1luv
@cryptickcryptick2241 yes you are bang on point. They all work together if applied as an holistic solution. That will be the way to go with a self build. Thank you for the reply.
For anyone interested, I have a 2000w and a 1500w cnswipower 48v inverter both running a 6k btu window unit individually. The 1500w occasionally wont start the unit and will throw an error code 4 overload. I run them both to where they never cycle off all day so it's not a big deal I just turn it off and back on, but a 3000w may not be necessary as my 2000w has never missed a beat. Just fyi
How many watts in solar panels to charge and run the ac? I’m in the same exact boat!
1270 watts of panles
@@oFFgriDLife27 thank you so much for replying! I just wondered because I am starting my system. I have the same size air conditioner, Victron controller similar to yours the same exact power inverter. I got for 100 amp hour litime batteries and my wife really likes it cool in the bedroom! Lol.
@benjamindrew9232 you are better off buying a 9k btu mini split and keep the door to your room closed. I can keep mine at 72-73 when the rest of the 🏠 is 80-82f for less than 2kwh used all night.
Cheaper option is get a $250 8k btu midea u.
@@Gary-ee3kq I am actually looking into those spilts, like mister cool. 👍
A VFD unit will be more efficient and require way less to start.
How many Amp hour are each of your batteries?
I'm curious.... very curious.... under 2k on the system? Would you mind running a breakdown on your system?
Will do. Thank you
Why would you to run it 24/7 ?
How cool does it keep inside? How hot is outside?
Ac is set at 68° on eco mode. 95°high 70°low
@littlerascalstacker2721 that's why I'm glad to live in California. Our high temps are the same as yours but our lows get into the mid 50s so I don't have to run the ac all night long just the first 3-4hrs... that eats up 1-1.5kwh.
@@oFFgriDLife27 Wow, I'm happy if my grid connected central A/C keeps things at 80 degrees!
What panels are you using?
The 100w panels are HQST
4-12v 100amp battery. 48v 100ah