EG4 Hybrid Solar Mini-Split Air Conditioner Heat Pump AC/DC 12000 BTU

[cstockwell]

We finally put a mini-split unit in my home and liked the unit for cooling the lower level living area and occasional heat if needed.  So I was thinking about putting one in our NH lake house.  After seeing the hybrid solar units I wanted to try one out before ordering the 9k btu unit for NH.  The 9k DIY units were still just in promotion stage and not being sold yet so I purchased the standard 12k EG4 unit to test out in my back garage to see if it would even work well or be worth the expense.  The older units like mine you had to vacuum out the lines after connecting the lines to the system before you let out the freon from the outdoor unit.  The new 12k DIY units and the 9k DIY units do not need to have that done.  You will see in the pictures that I had purchased an inexpensive unit from Amazon and just did the process myself.  It wasn't difficult and honestly worth having the stuff around for future things.  

The mini-split itself was pretty easy to install and mount.  Lots of good video tutorials out there for anyone who wants to tackle it.  Just be sure you angle your drain line down and be very careful with moving or bending your copper lines.  Once it was mounted and I built a stand for the main outside unit all I had to do was run the solar power to it.  I purchased and installed a breaker box for the solar as you can see in the pictures.  I started with 6 24v 240w solar panels but ended up doing 8.  They are in a horrible spot and only temporary so they don't get the right amount of sun to run this unit fully on solar.  It also happens to be winter so sun is not as strong.  

Once I got the unit connected and left the vacuum pump and gauges for 24 hours with no movement I was comfortable the setup was all good.  I connected the solar to the unit and had a temporary AC power connected to the unit.  If I keep the setup permanently there I will have a permanent AC setup done.  I was able to fire up the unit with the remote given and test out all features for heat and cooling.  I then downloaded the app to my phone for the units and was now able to watch how much is being drawn from solar and compensated by AC power when not enough watts coming from solar.  If you see the photos below the first one is on cooling (which takes less watts to run than heat) and I had only 6 panels at that time hooked up and leaves still on trees.  Was getting almost no solar power to unit and barely hitting 100 watts.  The second one is from a cloudy day a few days ago with 8 panels and no leaves on tree but winter sun.  This is cold NE winters so solar isn't ideal.  As you can see it was ranging from 250 to 300 watts drawing from solar and the rest from AC power.  I would expect with proper placement of panels getting direct sunlight I should be able to run that unit during normal sun days from just 6 panels but would likely use 8 to be sure.  

I am actually pleased with the unit and may end up keeping it in its current location and ordering the 9k DIY unit for NH.  It is nice to be able to offset the normal power usage it would take from grid power and run solar panels.  If you have an off grid setup you would just tie your AC side into your battery bank inverter setup.  The unit has a built in inverter system for the solar DC side so it would run directly from panels for whatever draw you can get and then draw the rest from your battery bank setup.  It is actually a very nice setup.

The links below are for the new DIY 12k and 9k units that don't require you to do a vacuum of the lines:

EG4 Hybrid Solar Mini-Split Air Conditioner Heat Pump AC/DC | 12000 BTU

EG4 9K Mini-Split Air Conditioner Heat Pump | 9000 BTU |