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Old 06-13-13, 01:36 PM   #13
jeff5may
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AC,

Last year, while I was researching methods to improve performance of "average" vapor compression setups, the solar assisted method looked to be high on the list. The more I did my homework, the worse the idea held water. I decided not to pursue the method, since the collector only really helps during heating mode when there is lots of sun.

To get a glimpse of the company and products, google the following:

sedna aire reviews

A "How it Works" document from the manufacturer:

http://www.suncoolenergy.com/tech/How%20it%20works.pdf

The most relevant post describing the major design flaw is here:

Solar Assisted A/C

Some select quotes from pro members...

"Add solar heat to assist with the heating mode - great idea! But adding more heat to the heat that we are already trying desperately to remove during the cooling mode?

Uhhhh . . . maybe I'm just not bright enough but I'm going to have to have that explained to me better in small meaningful and related English words. Because at this point I sure don't get it."- Poodle Head Mikey (post #33)

"The collector is nothing more than copper tube bent into U shapes with each U inside of a glass tube. The tubes are filled with soybean oil and are connected to an oil reservoir at the top of the collector. I think the total capacity was around 4-5 gallons."- Bobberly (post #40)

"What changed to cause the failure?... The environment changed when the outside temperature finally reached the hottest it had been since the system was installed. Original install was November, first failure was in June. My hunch was increased heat = increased pressure and we finally hit the point at which the flare fittings gave. The fittings were replaced and failed again, which I guess rules out substandard parts; it wasn't until a "gunk" sealent was applied that we were able to stop pressure loss from occuring. About a week later, the compressor cut out while running (don't know the cause) early afternoon. By evening (10pm) I fired it up again and everything was fine until the next day in the afternoon when it cut out again." - Bobberly (post #71)

"Here is how it was explained to this tech.
A couple things to remember;
The rate of heat transfer is dependent on the temperature difference.
Just like suction superheat, adding heat does not change the pressure.

The increase in superheated refrigerant vapor temperature, in the solar collector provides faster de-superheating in the top of the condensing (vapor is hotter) therefore more of the middle of the condenser can be used to change the state and thereby, increasing subcooling and at least bring the liquid refrigerant temperature closer to ambient.

We tested, and concluded, it was time we told them to remove our brand names and that adding these solar panels voids our warranty." -hvac21 (post #79)

From information I gathered from these and other sources, I concluded the design and marketing teams had not effectively communicated with each other regarding theory of operation. Either that or the inventor mixed up the rules of physics between absorption and compression systems, and the resulting hybrid design was explained with flawed logic. Choice words were used to fit the end to the means, and the product was released. Convinced consumers had systems installed, a portion of which failed miserably during hot weather.
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