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I thought the obvious solution is solar powered run AC. What am I missing?



That doesn't solve the problem of the refrigerants.


1234yf is the new refrigerant in cars. It has a global warming impact of 1, R-134a for example has a GWP of 1430. If we move to that it won't be much of a problem.


Solar powered AC would require a very large panel array and battery bank. ACs are quite the energy hog.


I have a 4.5kW solar installation and 26kWh of storage. I'm not sure what large or small is, but it didn't cost much and only covers about half of my house's potential solar roof space.

That's enough for our old house to be net zero in the Southern California summer, A/C and everything.

Modern houses with actual insulation in the walls, and windows that don't turn the rooms into solar ovens, would fare an order of magnitude better than even my modest solar setup.




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