With another scorching San Antonio summer approaching, you’re probably not looking forward to seeing your electric bills escalate from using your air conditioner. We have a solution that can not only lower your power bills, but also use those sizzling rays to your advantage: a cooling system powered by solar panels.
How Solar Panels Work
Our cooling systems work with photovoltaic panels, also called PV panels, which consist of silicon and non-reflective glass. The PV panels harness and store photons from the sun’s rays and then convert these particles into electrical power. Similar to a battery, the PV panel first converts the photons into DC power, which is sent to an inverter that converts it to AC power that can be used to run an air conditioning unit, as well as other household devices.
How Solar-Powered Cooling Systems Work
Most of our residential customers choose a grid-tied PV system, which uses a combination of solar power and traditional power sources from the utility company. This system is a much less expensive option than stand-alone PV systems, which rely exclusively on solar power and are not connected to the utility grid. Grid-tied systems utilize power from the sun during the day and from the utility company at night to keep the air conditioning unit running. When the air conditioner is not running, the solar power can be redirected to other devices in the home. Any unused power that is collected during the day can actually be fed back to the utility grid, which causes your electric meter to spin backwards for an energy credit.
Benefits of a Solar-Powered Cooling System
Using solar power to fuel your air conditioning unit offers many advantages over relying solely on the traditional power grid. These benefits include:
- Cost: After the initial installation costs, powering your air conditioner with solar energy is free and using grid power only when solar energy is not available will dramatically reduce your utility bills.
- Renewability: While fossil fuels are becoming scarcer every day, the sun is an infinite source of power.
- Environmental Impact: Solar power is a clean source of energy, as opposed to oil, gas and coal, which produce carbon dioxide.
- Reliability: The sun rises every day and is very likely to continue doing so even after the entire world’s nonrenewable sources are depleted.
- Tax Incentives: Many areas offer tax credits and utility company incentives for using solar energy.
Solar Panel Installation in San Antonio
We know that our customers are looking for the most cost-effective way to make the switch to renewable energy sources. Our SunSource Home Energy System by Lennox fits the bill. This energy-saving unit runs on the traditional power grid, will save you money on your utility bill and is also solar ready. You can have our San Antonio HVAC specialists at ABC Home & Commercial Services install your PV panels at the same time we install the unit or have it done later when it better fits your budget.