A leading United States air con manufacturer plans to install backup batteries on air conditioners before they ship them to customers. We had initial doubts about the practicality of this in the average home. But that was before we discovered a 10 kWh battery should be able to do the following, ignoring inverter losses:
- Run a 1,000 Watt standalone air conditioner for 10 hours.
- OR run a 3,000 Watt central air conditioner for 3 hours.
This suggests that a 10 kWh battery should be able to support a standalone air con during peak demand periods.
Air Con Does Not Work Well With Renewables
We have been shaping the future of climate technology, the company chairperson says. Now we are about to install our first battery-enabled HVAC systems. These will help strengthen the grid, he continues, while adapting to evolving energy demands.
Evening and morning peaks have always presented challenges for North American power grids. But now the rapid growth of data centers and industry is pushing utilities to the limits.
To complicate the challenge further, running air cons at peak periods places additional strain on the grid. And that is at the very time when the sun and wind fade, and gas peaking stations roar into life. This is where backup batteries on air conditioners could come into their own.
How Would Air Con Backup Batteries Work?
Backup batteries would come to the party as they do in an increasing number of North American homes. The power to charge the batteries would come from the grid during off peak, or from solar panels on the roof in day time.
An inverter / rectifier set would process this input, and then feed it to the battery as direct current. If the air con was running at the start of peak demand, then a switch would pull alternating current from the battery inverter to power the equipment instead.
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