Few Case-Specific Examples of Solar Air Conditioners Over
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a few green friendly organizations are few measures: would need a minimum of 2 kWp making use of solar air conditioners. P Individual houses and buildings capacity panel to run on. The cost of a Presently, there are just a few makers need to be studied carefully power producing part may be `100,000 of solar AC’s in the country. However, P Systems intended for installation going by the existing cost of `50 per China exports cheap units of solar AC’s need to be designed suitably so as Watt peak. So, it is expected to become into India through a number of Chinese to obtain optimum results cheaper as prices of PV modules drop solar companies/suppliers. of cooling down further. The cost of solar PV derived electricity is declining fast worldwide. Key suppliers of Solar AC units Few case-specific examples of New type of applications are now There are just a handful of solar air conditioners overseas being talked about on a regular basis, manufacturers of solar AC units in India. now including solar air conditioning. Table 1 highlights these alongwith very Truck mounted system Solar based air conditioning is a brief salient features etc. The onset of summer months brings technique of cooling space in buildings along a huge demand for cold drinks via an effective use of solar PV panels. How costly is a solar air in the marketplace. The Coca Cola company in Hong Kong has got Roof-top mounted panels can do the conditioner? simple trick of running a conventional its trucks ferrying such drinks with A solar air conditioning system still has a type air conditioning unit. However, it solar air conditioning units. This high initial capital cost. Take for example is still easier said than done as recourse development has become possible a 1000 W solar PV air conditioner, which would have to be taken to the following due to a collaborative project between Table 1 Key suppliers of solar AC units S.No. Company Location Product type Targeted use Brief details 1. Onyx India Kerala Hybrid solar air Industrial customers • Mainly for industrial use conditioner mainly • Use existing solar air conditioning technology via solar collectors • Uses conventional principle of compression techniques, evaporation and cooling • Total savings rate for Solar AC as compared to other AC’s is around 60% 2. Reliance Solar Navi Mumbai Solar Air Domestic • Highly efficient 0.85 ton solar unit Conditioner • Solar and AC grid charging option • Efficient thermostatic controller ensuring low power consumption • Reduced electricity bills • Programmable Logic Control (PLC) for an efficient charging 3. Sharada Nashik Solar Air Industrial • Uses no compressor and thus no costly Inventions Conditioner maintenance • Uses no CFC • Uses solar thermal energy • Available in a wide range of capacities from 10 TR to 600 • TR and more • Uses centrally controlled sun tracking mechanism 4. Arka Pune Solar Industrial • Non CFC based Technologies • Systems available for large scale centralised applications with capacities of 60 TR to 600 TR and above • Uses heat pipe type heat exchangers • Refrigeration fluid can be heated to very high temperatures energy future 61 july 2012 The SOLAR QUARTERLY Hongkong Polytechnic University, P Available for use on cloudy and powered AC unit (Figure 2) to meet Green Power Industrial Ltd, and Swire rainy days too both the fixed and mobile applications. Coca-Cola Hong Kong. P AC can be switched on when the Salient features of this system are as Key features of this mobile Solar AC vehicle engine is not running under: unit are: P Can cool a room of up to 600 square P A photovoltaic panel attached to Solar AC for both fixed and feet size via a single 170 Wp solar the roof of the truck’s cab mobile applications panel P It collects solar energy to charge a The underlying concept is simply- P Can draw power from the grid as specially made battery system when it is hot, the sun is out, so why not and when needed P The battery powers an electric make use of that energy to help cool P Batteries can be charged from grid motor to drive a variable frequency- down. A company in California named power too driven (VFD) compressor Greencore has developed a solar P A solar powered thermo statistically controlled unit offers mechanical air conditioning at a low cost P Avoids the need for an expensive inverter by running on DC current P Also available with an optional heating element for climate control on warm days with cool nights The cool way forward Sun will continue to shine brighter as before. Each one of us would like to have a cool whiff of air over our body. The million dollar question is can solar power can become cheap enough for this purpose, and how can we store sunlight for the night. n july 2012 62 energy future The SOLAR QUARTERLY 2011–Harbinger of the Solar Dominance Ravi Kumar Gurumurti Director, SEMI India. [email protected] july 2012 64 energy future ear 2011 was not good. Almost power plants were connected to the small off-grid systems. It also pointed everyone would like to forget grid in 2011 taking the cumulative out to some huge unexploited Ythe depressing impact the installed capacity close to 67 GW. markets especially those in the African deepening economic crisis had on Nearly 40% of the capacity addition and South American continents global markets, commerce, and trade. took place last year alone. More Also-ran just a few years back, China However, 2011 will be remembered importantly the Giga-Watt Solar Club, rose to a very dominant position in for bequeathing to the world an grew from six to nine with Australia, Solar PV in 2011. China is now the impressive market transformation that Belgium and China joining it. India biggest global supplier with 40% promises a defining and dominant and UK are marching fast and would of global manufacturing capacity, role for solar energy not only in the soon be joining the club. For the first and the growth in Chinese capacity current decade but also in the long run. time in many years, Germany lost had a remarkable impact in the Grid parity, which remained a distant its position at the top of the capacity global market. dream and a point naysayers harped addition table as it added 7.5 GW It established itself as a global on, all of a sudden seemed possible of solar capacity, below Italy which supplier of modules with 40% of the much earlier than previously thought. added 9 GW. global manufacturing capacity based Achievements in emission reduction Academics and industry specialists in China and it had a huge impact on targets that looked over-ambitious including Mr. C. Werner from Q Cells, the global market in 2011. Polysilicon may after all become a possibility as in a symposium held in Ulm, Germany prices slipped to less than a tenth of the solar’s contribution to the RE basket last year, brought to light the spread high prices of $450 / kg that prevailed and to the overall energy basket along of solar utilization in as many as 187 in 2008, and are now available at $30 to with wind grows enormously. countries across all continents. The $40/kg. Modules prices also similarly According to the EPIA 2011 market study showed that several smaller and fell from around $3 per Watt in 2008 to report, as much as 27.7 GW of new developing nations are interested in less than $1 a Watt. energy future 65 july 2012 The SOLAR QUARTERLY With such a rapid drop in prices cell and module manufacturers were There are many who believe that such driven by Chinese exports, anxiety operating far below their capacity rates are unsustainable and may even quickly spread across the industry in and even reputed suppliers of hurt the interest of the industry. Also all major manufacturing countries. manufacturing equipment and material many believe that once the economy The year thus saw sharp rise in bitter suppliers found the market uncertain recovers and the huge inventory pile trade disputes, and pressure on and depressing. up melts away the prices of poly silicon governments mounted to protect local 2011 was also a great year of learning and solar cells will rise again. It cannot, manufacturing. Private discussions in for India, with several projects under however, be disputed that even if the many events invariably centered on the Government of India’s JNNSM prices rise it will be nowhere near Chinese dominance and the impact it programme and Gujarat Government’s the prices that prevailed before the had on the global prices solar programme reaching completion. economic recession beset the world. Late in October 2011, a group of There were lessons on every front - 2011 saw a dramatic drop in prices, the US PV manufacturing companies bidding processes, issues relating to closing in on grid parity, and an intense lead by Solar World petitioned to the land acquisition and environment trade war churning the intensity. International Trade Commission of the clearances, to evacuation of power No energy and emission mitigation US Department of Commerce that the and more. planning of a nation or a group of Chinese companies enjoyed several The drastic drop in the price in 2011 nations would henceforth be complete government incentives and made US resulted in project developers quoting without accounting for the burgeoning products uncompetitive and sought very aggressive prices for projects solar energy. anti-dumping duties to be levied. under the 2nd batch of phase I of Indeed, 2011 would be long In India, the manufacturing JNNSM projects.