Solar power in all of these "Greenies" houses only work because they're in houses with no air conditioners or hot water heaters. Fluctuating voltage from a solar panel hooked to even something as small as a window AC Unit will ruin it quickly.

The air conditioning unit--sized to cool the space of a large room--can be run on solar panels, from a wall socket or, in a pinch, batteries.

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The system includes batteries that can run the unit for either 12 or 24 hours depending on the battery size.

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Needing 500 watts, SolCool's unit could run on five or six midsize panels, which would cost a fraction of a solar system sized for a full building.

SolCool has optimized the air conditioner to run on the direct current generated by the solar panels or batteries, rather than the alternating current that comes from electrical plugs. Building the product for direct current has allowed the company to build a very energy-efficient product which can run off-grid as well, Pruitt said. (In standard solar installations, the panels produce direct current, but then a device called an inverter switches it to AC before you use it in your home.)