Australian solar-powered air con uses sun to beat the heat

An Australian company has said it is developing a solar-powered air conditioner that it claims is 12 times more energy efficient than conventional models.

Air Change, a Sydney-based maker of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, last month received an A$458,000 (US$377,800, £230,600) grant from the federal government to help put its solar-powered invention into commercial production by 2011.

The company says its Green Machine air con eliminates the need for compressors and ozone-depleting refrigerants. Instead of using an electrical compressor found in conventional models, Air Change's technology uses a solar-powered thermal compressor.

The compressor uses ejector cooling technology in which compressed air expands out of a jet that sucks refrigerant and air into a line. The jet then expels the air at a much cooler temperature. The refrigerant is recirculated and recompressed. Any form of refrigerant, including water, can be used.

Air Change said it has designed models for both homes and commercial buildings, and that The Green Machine can be installed in new properties and also be retrofitted into existing structures.

The technology was developed by Mike Dennis, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems in the Australian National University College of Engineering and Computer Science.

He believes that use of the Green Machine in place of traditional air con systems would help lighten the load on electricity grids and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by conventional refrigerants.

The government grant will cover half of the expected A$916,000 cost needed to develop Green Machine for the commercial market, according to Air Change.

The funds will be disbursed from the A$75m Climate Ready Program, which provides capital for the domestic development of technologies that help address climate change, including products that save energy and water, reduce pollution and reuse waste products.