Comment Re:Solar is here to stay (Score 2) 533
You can drive an 18500 BTU window unit with 6 solar panels. What you need is a control box that will turn it on when power is sufficent and turn it off when power is insufficient. (even better if it can scale the cooling to available power as long as power is available).
If you cool during the day, the house stays cool and you don't have to cool it for several hours when you get home.
Battery cost has dropped by 94% in 20 years. I think that's going to be a key element. Instead of grid-tie, you just have some of your utilities on a parallel solar power system. Meanwhile, your central air unit still draws from regular power.
Say you could put a panel on your roof and a plug in your room that would provide 16 hours of 100 watt power + live power during daylight. It won't drive vacuum cleanersfor long but it will drive TV's, cable boxes, a light fixture, laptop, electric shaver, toothbrush, etc.