A company located in Denver Colorado has developed one of the most practical solar powered air conditioning systems made to date. Named the Coolerado, the device is manufactured in the mountain state where it was also developed by its originator Coolerado Corporation. Company CEO, Mike Luby, says that Coolerado is a
“portable completely environmental friendly unit that utilizes both the power of the sun, water, and a clean form of energy from the atmosphere known as psychometric energy, which deals with the heat transfer of water vapor which results in a virtual cooling process of the air itself”
.
The unit include a set of solar panels which create the electricity used to power the unit. Fresh air is drawn into the unit by means of a special fan, which then passes through a specially made filter to remove any impurities. The air then enters special chambers known as HMX’s for heat and mass exchanges. Since the air that enters the exchanges contain quantities of water, this water is retuned to the outside atmosphere, and the “conditioned” or cooled air is then sent to the structure to be cooled by means of air ducts. To give more efficiency to the solar panels themselves, who lose part of their ability to produce electricity due to overheating, cooled air can be sent to cool the panels from the back side.
Compared to a standard air conditioning system, a Coolerado AC unit is sufficient enough to cool a building of 3,000 sq. feet (sufficient for 20 people) and only needs 600 watts of power (about 1/3 the amount needed to operate a standard hair dryer) to run it. This is compared to a standard AC unit which needs around 6,000 watts to operate it. Coolerado units can be located in the empty attic space of a standard house, and the panels can be integrated with the roofing tiles ( like solar plates for water boilers are). They can also be placed on the roof of a flat topped building, with the solar panels positioned to face the sun.
The uniqueness of the Coolerado unit’s design has resulted in articles about it being published in a number of environmental and business publications, including The Green Hour, and Earth Times (which noted Coolerado receiving a Renewable Energy Award from the State of Colorado in January 2009), the Denver Business Journal, and the Appliance Design Magazine.
The units are currently available in a number of states in the USA, as well as overseas in Europe, Australia, and Singapore. The units carry a 5 year limited warranty and require very low maintenance. And most of all, they use all natural cooling elements and absolutely no CFC refrigeration gasses.
With summer now upon us, using a Coolerado AC unit will not only keep you and your family cool, but will help our environment by not needing electricity generated from fossil fuels.
Very interesting idea and something that can be very useful for the Middle East and other warm weather countries with plenty of sunshine.
It is a very good idea but I don’t see how this can compete with a geothermal system. It doesn’t appear to be more energy efficient and geothermal is virtually maintenace free.