The first question you will ask yourself when looking at installing a solar air conditioner is,” What size unit do I need?” The answer to this question will depend on a few factors, but the main one is the room size.

The size of the Solaeris solar air conditioner you need will depend on the size of the area you want to cool. As a rule of thumb with air conditioners, you would need a 12000 BTU unit for rooms up to 25sq m, an 18000 BTU unit for areas up to 30sq m, and a 24000 BTU unit for areas up to 40sq m.

Let’s examine the other factors that would determine what size solar air conditioner you need, how to measure the room size, and what effect insulation, airflow, and windows would have on the solar air conditioner size.

What Size Solar Air Conditioner Do You Get

At Solaeris, we have three sizes of the solar air conditioner. The 12000 BTU, 18000 BTU, and 24000 BTU suit specific room sizes.

The 12000 BTU solar air conditioner is ideally suited to rooms up to 20sq m but can work in areas up to 25sq m. The 18000 BTU unit is suitable for 25sq m and up to 30sq m, while the 24000  BTU unit would be ideal for areas from 30sq m – 40sq m.

How Do You Measure The Area Size You Want To Cool

Measurements are done in square meters; to do this, you measure the length of each wall and multiply them together. So if you have a room that is 6m x 4m, your room area is 24sq m.

You can measure this using a tape measure or pacing it with a 1m length step as you walk the wall. At this point, you don’t have to measure the ceiling height, although this will affect how effective the air conditioner will be in that space –we will address that later on.

What Other Factors Affect The Size Of The Solar Air Conditioner I Need

With a solar air conditioner, you need to ensure that no additional air flow brings warm air into the space you want to cool. This will increase the temperature of the air in the room and reduce the cooling effect of the solar air conditioner.

Keep the doors and windows in the room closed, and ensure that the window vent kit is properly installed and sealed.

Insulation is another factor as most of the ‘coolth’ in a home or room escapes through the ceiling, so to have a solar air conditioner be more effective, install good insulation in your roof.

Windows are another factor as they allow heat into the space, so if you have blinds or curtains in the room, use them when the air conditioner is on to reduce the inflow of heat through the glass, use UV window film to filter out the UV and heat from the sun.

Very high ceilings or thatched roofs will also impact the cooling effectiveness, so you may need a larger unit to compensate for a larger area volume, even if the room area is small. So if you have a 5m x 4m room, but you have a 4m ceiling, you would possibly need an 18000 BTU solar air conditioner, even though the room size of 20sq m should require a 120000 BTU unit.

Conclusion

Unless you have very high ceilings, you can use a 12000 BTU unit in areas between 20sq m and 25sq m; an 18000 BTU unit in areas between 25sq m and 30 sq m, and a 24000 BTU unit in areas between 30sq m and 40 sq m.

Of course, you can always use larger units in smaller areas, not smaller ones in larger ones. Remember, because these are solar air conditioners, you won’t use power at all, so even if you have a smaller unit in a larger space -it doesn’t matter because you can run it all day for free!

While solar air conditioners will cost more than a standard inverter air conditioner or non-inverter unit, their benefits are immediate. While it may take some time to recover the initial investment from energy savings, there is no doubt that they are worth the investment.

Solar air conditioners are most certainly worth it from the moment they are installed; they eliminate energy consumption and energy costs associated with your air conditioning, start paying back the investment immediately, and immediately reduce your carbon footprint!

By looking at the savings and other benefits of installing solar air conditioners, you will see that while the initial investment for a solar air conditioner may seem high relative to non-solar units, the short and medium-term benefits far outweigh the capital cost.

Why Are Solar Air Conditioners Worth It

Air conditioning accounts for around 10% of global energy usage and, when used in the home, can be a major contributor to energy costs second only to water heating!

But, the very second you install a solar air conditioner from Solaeris, your air conditioning costs evaporate into the sun! Because solar air conditioners use direct DC from the solar panels or the PV system (if connected), you can run your air con units all day and NOT use a single cent of electricity!

To see what savings you would get factoring in the energy costs per kWh, as well as annual increases and power consumption, check out our article on How Much Money You Can Save With A Solar Air Conditioner.

Bottom line, whatever you are paying for power when using your existing air conditioner, you will NOT be paying once you connect and use your solar air conditioner!

 Solar Air Conditioners Are Worth It Because They Save You Money

On average, and factoring in the ESKOM increases that average around 15% per year so far, most solar air conditioners will pay for themselves within two years, assuming that you would use your air conditioner for heating and cooling throughout the year.

And here is another reason solar air conditioners from Solaeris are worth it – you can keep your home warm during winter and keep it cool it during summer for free! Plus, there is a certain satisfaction knowing that you are staying cool without paying ESKOM a single cent to do it!

And that alone is why a solar air conditioner is worth it!

Solar Air Conditioners Are Worth It Because They Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

In terms of CO2, energy production in South Africa is not the most efficient, as one kW of electricity produced will yield about 1 kg of CO2 released into the atmosphere. So for every 1000 kWh you use, you are responsible for 1 ton of CO2 released into the atmosphere.

An average 12000 BTU air conditioner will use slightly more than 1kWh per operation hour. Over a year, with 8 hours per day of operation, this will result in about 3 tons of CO2 per year being released into the atmosphere.

Over five years of operation, that will be 15 tons, just for ONE 12000 BTU unit. With a solar air conditioner, the amount of CO2 released is ZERO. ZIP. NADA. F-ALL!

While you may not be actively conscious of your CO2 footprint, you will sleep better knowing that while you are keeping cool, you are helping to save the planet!

Solar Air Conditioners Are Worth It Because They Add Value To Your Home

With rising numbers of home buyers and investors preferring properties with energy-efficient solutions and products installed over those that don’t, they are willing to pay more for properties and homes that are energy efficient.

For a homeowner, adding solar air conditioners makes financial sense, especially if you are going to sell at some point. If you have had solar air conditioners for more than three years, they have paid themselves off.

Because you have them, you can increase your selling price on the home, which will double or even triple the return on your solar air conditioner’s initial investment.

Solar Air Conditioners Are Worth It Because The Maintain Their Cool In The Heat

One of the issues with conventional air conditioners is that they can struggle to keep cool when the heat outside gets too much. They will use more power and reach their capacity to keep up with the heat – while solar air conditioners don’t have the same issue.

When the sun is blazing down, it generates more energy for the solar panels that power the solar air conditioner, so effectively, the sun gives you the energy to remain cool and comfortable while other air cons struggle to keep up!

Solar Air Conditioners Are Worth It Because They Are Wifi Enabled

Being able to monitor your solar air conditioner and manage it from your smartphone using wifi is a great advantage, and Solaeris Solar Air conditioner enables you to do just that. So no more searching for remotes; use your smartphone!

Solar Air Conditioners Are Medium Term Investments

As South Africans, we tend to have a short-term mindset regarding energy saving, and this has to change. A solar air conditioner will have a short- to medium-term investment return of between 2-5 years.

Energy efficiency is not a short-term perspective but a medium-term one, and getting into this mindset when it comes to investing in a Solaeris Solar Air Conditioner is critical. Remember that the longer you wait, the higher the cost of electricity becomes.

Even if you can’t do all the rooms in your home at once, you can start slowly and add solar air conditioners as and when you can, or invest in a PV system and then connect your solar air conditioners as you get them.

Conclusion

Solar air conditioners are worth it as they save money, add value to your home while reducing your carbon footprint, maintain their cooling when other air conditioners cannot, and are smart technology enabled, all leading to a comfortable environment and peace of mind!

Aside from that, the best thing about a solar air conditioner from Solaeris is that you can smile knowing that you are not paying ESKOM a dime while enjoying a perfectly cooled home- and that should be enough reason to invest in one!

Before investing in a solar air conditioner from Solaeris, you need to know how much money you would save by installing one and how that saving would translate to how quickly you would recover your investment.

A solar air conditioner uses no power as it runs off solar panels during the day. Taking the current cost per unit of electricity and calculating how much an inverter air conditioner would use over a month and a year, you could save around R7000 per year or more using a solar air conditioner.

Let’s investigate more and see how much money you would save on a 12000 BTU, 18000 BTU, and 24000 BTU solar air conditioner over a year and how fast that saving would recover your initial investment.

How Much Money Would You Save With A 12000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner

If you consider that modern inverter air conditioners are about 30%-40% more efficient than non-inverter models, an LG 12000 BTU inverter air conditioner is rated at 1100W or 1,1kW. This means that this unit will use 8,8kWh of electricity over an eight-hour day.

Over 30 days, that is 264 kWh, and at the current average cost of electricity at R2,558 per kWh, according to Business Insider, running this unit would cost R675 per month and 3168 kWh per year, costing around R8103-74.

Now, while you may not have the unit cooling your home around the year, you may have it warming the room in winter and cooling in summer, and this cost is just for ONE air conditioner in your home. Most homes would have at least one in each bedroom and possibly one in the lounge/living area.

The Solaeris 12000 BTU solar air conditioner would cost zero, so you would save R8000 per year on each unit installed. PLUS, with the constant nuisance of load shedding, your solar air conditioner would still run even if ESKOM isn’t, and this doesn’t include the ESKOM tariff increases either!

Now let’s examine the ROI (return on investment) figures for a solar air conditioner.

Cost Of Investment Vs.Return On A 12000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner

At R15900 per unit, the Solaeris 12000 BTU solar air conditioner is about twice the price of an inverter air conditioner, and you would still need to install it and have the solar panels to run it, which would add another R12000 or so to the price.

So for one unit, you would be investing around R28000, which is a fair amount. However, it would help if you considered a few aspects here too.

• Firstly, once the unit is installed, you have zero cost of operation.
• Secondly, regardless of ESKOM’s increases, your cost remains zero!
• Solar air conditioners heat and cool and add value to your property
• They can run off existing PV Systems, so you may not even need to add more capacity.

Now, let’s see what the savings would be taking into account ESKOM’s likely increases over the next three years at around 15%, which was the increase seen in 2021. Currently, the average cost is R2,558; in 2023, that would be R2,941; in 2024, that would be around R3,382 per kWh.

• Year 1 – R8103
• Year 2 – including 15% increase – R 9318-45
• Year 3 – including 15% increase – R 10716-22

Total for a single 12000 BTU inverter airconditioner – R28137-67

Total cost for Solaeris 12000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner – R28000.

Assuming that ESKOM ONLY gets a 15% tariff increase, your investment in a SINGLE air conditioner would be paid off in 3 years on the savings achieved.

If you have more than one, you need to consider that your average kWh cost will be much higher as you move into higher consumption brackets according to ESKOM’s sliding usage scale.

If you exceed the 600kWh per month usage, your cost per kWh rockets to R3.18 per kWh, and if you have air conditioners, that will certainly happen, so let’s see what that cost would be over three years:

1. Year 1 – R10 074.24 @ 3168 kWh / year @ R3,18/kWh
2. Year 2 – R11585-38 with a 15% increase
3. Year 3 – R13323-18 with a 15% increase

Total for three years = R34982-80

Investing in a solar air conditioner from Solaeris would mean it would be paid off in 28 months or just 2,3 years and save you R6982-00!

How Much Money Can You Save On An 18000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner

An 18000 inverter air conditioner would use around 1700W or 1,7kW. Over eight hours, this would be 13,6 kWh per day or 408kWh per month and 4896 kWh per year.

At the average tariff of R2,558 per kWh, this would be a cost of :

• R1040.40 per month
• R12484.80 per year

At R3,18/kwh, that cost would then increase to :

• R1297 per month
• R15569.28 per year

The 18000 BTU solar air conditioner unit is R19900, and add installation and panels for R12000 to have a total cost of R31000. When you consider this investment against the savings and increases over three years, you will get the following :

• Year 1 – R15569-28
• Year 2 – R17904.68
• Year 3 – R20590-38

Total cost for three years, including a 15% tariff increase per year = R54064-34.

Adding an 18000 BTU solar air conditioner from Solaeris would pay off the investment in 20 months and save you R23064-34!

How Much Money Would You Save With A 24000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner

The 24000 BTU unit would use about 2000w or 2kW, and over 8 hours, that would be 16kWh per day or 480kWH per month; 5760 kWh per year.

At R3,18 per kWh, the monthly cost would be R1526-40, and the annual cost would be R18316.80. Taking that over three years and including the increases, you would get the following prices:

Year 1 – R18316-80

Year 2 – R21064-32

Year 3 – R 24223-97

Total cost for three years = R63605-09

A Solaeris 24000 BTU solar air conditioner costs R25900 plus R12000 for the panels and installation for a total of R37900 and would be paid off in 21 months with the savings and save you R25705.09!

Conclusion

With ESKOM tariff increases and load shedding to contend with, it is clear that investing in a Solaeris solar air conditioner will save you big money and return your investment in three years or less, all the while adding value to your property!

Undoubtedly, buying a solar conditioner for your home is a great investment. It will return itself countless times over and keep you cool or warm even when ESKOM pulls the plug – and you will sleep better knowing that your air conditioner is helping to save the planet too!

 

While this technology is not at all new to the market, there is some confusion about how solar air conditioners work. There are two variations of solar air conditioners; hybrid or off-grid units and solar thermal systems.

Hybrid solar air conditioners work on 48V DC that comes directly from the PV system’s solar panels or the DC side, and this runs the condenser and mid-wall unit. Solar thermal air conditioners use 220V electricity from the inverter or grid.

With so many people looking for energy-efficient air-conditioning, it’s important to understand how each type of solar air conditioner works to determine which is better for you. Let’s explore these two systems in greater detail.

How Do Hybrid Solar Air Conditioners Work

Hybrid or off-grid solar air conditioners, such as the one Solaeris supplies, work using DC electricity generated from the solar panels. The solar panels on the roof are wired directly to the air conditioning power unit and provide DC power as long as there is sunlight or UV.

These solar air conditioners require no electricity as they are specially designed to run from 48V DC, so these are ideal for people who either don’t have a connected grid supply or don’t want one and need the air conditioners running during the day.

These systems are hybrids because they can connect to AC and DC power when the sun goes down or there isn’t enough UV to drive the generation from the solar panels, and here is where the hybrid units come to the energy-saving party.

By running your solar-powered hybrid from solar panels during the day, you can drastically reduce your energy consumption in your home or office. Because this time of the day is peak time for heat and it generates the most energy from the panels, this combination is ideally suited for hybrid solar air conditioners.

When it comes to energy saving, these are the ultimate solution as they use no electricity at all provided there is sufficient sunlight!

Solaeris Solar Air conditioner are also wifi enabled and you can monitor and control them from your smart device.

 How Do Solar Thermal Solar Air Conditioners Work

Solar thermal air conditioners run off a different principle than solar hybrid units. Firstly, they use AC power, not DC power, so they need to be connected to a 230V power supply from the inverter or the supplied grid.

While hybrids use PV or photovoltaic energy for their power supply, solar thermal systems use the sun’s heat to reduce the amount of energy they use. They do this by using the sun’s thermal energy or heat energy to drive the refrigerant through the system once it exits the compressor.

They do this using a specialized piece of technology called a Therm-X exchanger, which is mounted on the roof and looks a lot like the evacuated tubes on a solar geyser. The exchanger uses the sun’s heat to heat the refrigerant instead of using electrical energy.

With solar thermal, the condenser unit can run more than one mid-wall unit, and this is why these units are superb for large installations such as offices and large homes, where some multiple rooms or spaces require cooling during the day.

This would usually be done using electricity, and these units have shown they are about 70% more efficient than standard inverter air conditioners.

 

Hybrid Solar Air Conditioner Vs. Solar Thermal – Cost

Aside from the fact that the solar thermal units require grid power or 230V to operate, their cost is considerably different.

Solar thermal is very expensive to buy, and because you always need the condenser and Therm-X exchanger, you would be in for R40k before you take an indoor unit and installation. To supply and install just one air conditioner in a single room would cost around R60 000 or more as the installation requires a specialized installer.

While the returns on this technology are good and would be a medium to long-term recovery, these are not ideal where people want to reduce their energy consumption in one or two rooms in a home as the cost would be prohibitive.

With solar hybrid, a single 12000 BTU unit is R15900. While you would need to add solar panels – if you didn’t have an existing PV system or require more capacity, you could probably get the panels you need and have them installed for less than half the price of the solar thermal unit.

This is a standard air conditioner and solar panel installation, so no specialized technical knowledge is required for these systems – they are basically ‘plug-n-play’!

Which Solar Air Conditioner Should You Choose

Remember that pricing for these units will always be more expensive than an inverter air conditioner. Still, you have to have a medium to long-term mindset when looking at investing in this technology.

Hybrid solar air conditioners will have a shorter ROI term than solar thermal. These installed in your home will increase the property’s value significantly, especially if you have a solar geyser or other energy-saving products.

Hybrid units will be more efficient for small homes or people looking to cool smaller rooms and spaces, especially where you may be looking to convert to a PV system later. Also, the upfront cost is less for hybrids than for solar thermal.

For more on the cost and savings, check out this article on how much money you can save with a solar air conditioner

About Solaeris Solar Air Conditioners

We have been in the energy game since 2010 and work with a premier supplier of solar air conditioners in South Africa. As a result, we have stock of the 12 000 BTU, 18 000 BTU, and 24 000 BTU units in stock and available from our Centurion warehouse.

We offer delivery and the option to supply solar panels at competitive pricing if you want a one-stop shop.

Conclusion

Solar air conditioners are getting cheaper and becoming more freely available. Considering that air conditioning accounts for a large portion of all energy consumed in your home and worldwide, more people are actively looking to become more energy efficient by using off-grid and hybrid solar air conditioners.

While the upfront costs may be relatively high, the return on investment is excellent. Being able to stay cool in the summer heat, knowing nature is powering your solar air conditioner, is saving you money and the planet too!