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Ever since our ancestors mastered fire, humans have been able to warm themselves. Cooling down when it's hot has been more challenging.
The eccentric Roman emperor Elagabulus sent slaves to bring snow down from the mountains and pile it in his garden, where breezes would carry the cooler air inside.
[...] Needless to say, this was not a scalable solution. At least, not until the 19th century, when Boston entrepreneur Frederic Tudor amassed an unlikely fortune doing something similar.
He took blocks of ice from frozen New England lakes in winter, insulated them in sawdust, and shipped them to warmer climes for summer.
Until artificial ice-making took off, mild New England winters caused panic about an "ice famine".
Air conditioning as we know it began in 1902, but it had nothing to do with human comfort.
New York's Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing and Printing Company became frustrated with varying humidity levels when trying to print in colour.
The same paper had to be printed four times in four colours, and if the humidity changed between print runs, the paper would slightly expand or contract. Even a millimetre's misalignment looked awful.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday June 07 2017, @06:19PM (5 children)
There's something called the Einstein fridge which is entirely heat driven. Maybe that could be used to build a sun driven AC with very few if any intermediate steps and thus losses?
(Score: 2) by jimtheowl on Monday June 12 2017, @08:04PM (4 children)
I can only guess that the main reason that this has remained in a niche market has to be because of efficiency, despite reports of improved design.
There is apparently one project making use of it for vaccine refrigeration where electricity is scarce, so I will assume that despite the efficiency issues, it is a more compact and sturdier design than the alternative.
That said, I would likely have to build one myself as it is not readily available.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday June 12 2017, @09:30PM (3 children)
My thinking here is that the Einstein fridge may be inefficient. But.. when considering the alternative solar --> converter --> battery --> converter --> compressor vs solar --> compressor. It may still be more efficient. And daytime energy can be stored as a heat difference instead of electrical batteries.
(Score: 2) by jimtheowl on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:57PM (2 children)
The reason a converter is normally used before going to an appliance is because most house appliances are AC. Nevertheless, DC Air Conditioners are available.
I googled this at random:
http://www.geinnovations.net/solar_air_conditioner.html [geinnovations.net]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:13PM (1 child)
The general problem with solar panel is MPPT and varying power output during the day. And none at night.
(Score: 2) by jimtheowl on Wednesday June 14 2017, @05:51AM
The idea is to reduce the stress on the grid and your pocket book given a minimal initial investment.
Improvements can grow from there.