Solar for cooling in the tropics

[PhillM]

Hi,

New to the forum. I was looking for advice or examples of a solar system used to cool an insulated concrete house.

I'm thinking of using a 18k hybrid system with about 10kw of solar (5kw per array), tapped to the grid for the starting load on a 8kw contral air conditioning unit.

Anyone done this before and if so was there any dramas I should consider?

Where I'm at the average outside temperature is 32-36deg c (dry/wet season daily average) with a target internal temperature of 20deg c. I'll be cooling about 150 cubic meters of concrete (insulated with 50mm thick of foil board and 38mm airgap).

I would be greatly appreciative of any examples or insights I should be taking into consideration.

Cheers,

Phill

 

[wpns]

Really huge thermal mass, that's going to be hard. We have a concrete house in a similar climate, and we've found that setting the (Mitsubishi) mini-splits to 'Dry' mode the temperature doesn't come down a lot, but the humidity drops to the 50-60% range, and it's actually quite comfortable. Plus you don't get the huge thermal shock when going inside or outside.

IMHO, splits win over central systems from ease of installation, maintenance, and low power consumption (~250W running), and there's no single point of failure that'll cause all your cooling to fail.

People here with wooden houses who crank their HVAC systems get condensation on the outsides of their windows and water damage from that, and find that it's not actually very comfortable.

 

[Aussie]

I'm in Qld. Bundaberg area. I I run my Mitsubishi split system around 25c. No problems. I reckon 20 degrees is going to be a problem. Takes a lot of power to go from 32 - 36 deg to 20. Good luck.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

in a very, very humid area next due to the forest surrounding my cabin. wood construction, but well insulated. running the split pack in dry mode has proven for us anyway as the best option.