By using solar air conditioners we can reduce our electricity bills to a bare minimum. A solar air conditioner works in a stand-alone mode without having any connection to the main power supply line. This type of AC is costly at present. The whole system, including a 1.5 ton split AC, a charge controller, an inverter and eight batteries is available for around Rs550,000. Once installed, it would work day and night, free of cost.
Its batteries will have to be changed every three years which is an added expenditure. To bring down the price of solar ACs, it is better if such units are manufactured indigenously under licence from foreign companies. The use of cheap local manpower and manufacture of various parts of inverter locally will bring its price down appreciably. Side by side, our engineering universities can be tasked to carry out R&D in the design and manufacture of solar ACs.
Air Cdre (r) Azfar A Khan
Rawalpindi