JP2005156072A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner enabling a user to easily realize energy saving and saving of electric charges and to select an efficient application method including the electric charges and the amount of power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: This air conditioner 10 having an indoor unit 2 and an outdoor unit 1, is provided with a refrigerating circuit constituted by connecting a compressor 40, a condenser, a decompression device and an evaporator sequentially in annular shape, and an inverter circuit 46 for driving the compressor 40. The indoor unit 2 is provided with a solar panel 6 for supplying electric power to the inverter circuit 46, and a solar lamp 22 lighted when electric power outputted from the solar panel 6 is a predetermined value or more. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner that performs indoor air conditioning, and more particularly, to an air conditioner including a solar panel (solar power generation device) that generates and supplies sunlight as an energy source.

  Conventionally, home air conditioners have been set for operation mode such as heating, cooling, and drying, air volume setting, temperature setting, etc., and these settings can be set by remote control with the attached remote control. It has become.

  As such an air conditioner, an air conditioner equipped with a so-called solar panel using solar energy as a power source has been developed. In this air conditioner, electric power generated according to sunlight absorbed by the solar panel is used as a power source of the air conditioner.

In addition, in such an air conditioner, since the power to be generated depends on the weather and time, it is used in combination with a commercial power source that has been used in the past. The power using the power source is switched and used so that stable air-conditioning operation can be secured (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP-A-7-12050 JP 9-49653 A

  The above-mentioned conventional air conditioner achieves very high energy saving performance by improving the performance of the equipment in terms of energy saving.

  However, the amount of electricity (power consumption) generated by solar power generation for the user is not directly visible or felt when using an air conditioner. The machine was not really understood and was not meant to satisfy the user. In addition, there is a problem that it is not possible to use the air conditioner more economically and efficiently, and it does not become the electricity bill desired by the user.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned facts, so that the user can easily realize energy saving and saving of electricity bills with his skin, and an efficient usage method including the cost of electricity bills or power consumption can be realized. An object is to provide an air conditioner that can be selected.

  The invention described in claim 1 includes an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, and drives a compressor, a refrigeration circuit configured by sequentially connecting a compressor, a condenser, a decompression device, and an evaporator in a ring shape with a refrigerant pipe. In an air conditioner equipped with an inverter circuit, an indoor unit is provided with a solar panel that supplies power to the inverter circuit, and a display lamp that is lit when the power output from the solar panel is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. It is characterized by that.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the first aspect, the display lamp changes the display according to the amount of power generated by the solar panel.

  According to the present invention, when the air conditioner is operated by a solar panel (solar cell), the lamp indicating the fact is turned on on the display unit of the indoor unit. By looking at the section, you can recognize that you are currently operating with a solar panel, and you can feel the savings in electricity costs with your skin.

  In addition, by confirming whether the indoor unit indicator lamps are lit or extinguished, the user can economically set the timing for operating / stopping the air conditioner and adjusting the room temperature, and estimated the savings on electricity costs. can do.

  FIG. 1 is an external view of an air conditioner equipped with a solar panel in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a lamp of a display unit of the indoor unit.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is an outdoor unit of the separation type air conditioner 10, 2 is an indoor unit, these are connected by a refrigerant pipe 3 and an inter-unit cable 4, and the air conditioner 10 is operated by a remote controller 5. The The outdoor unit 1 is provided with a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a decompression device, and the like (not shown), and is connected to the indoor heat exchanger provided in the indoor unit 2 in an annular manner through a refrigerant pipe in order. Constitutes a cycle. A solar panel 6 is attached above the outdoor unit 1, and this solar panel 6 is connected to a terminal plate (not shown) of the outdoor unit 1 through a converter 8 by a connection cable 7, and from the terminal plate to the inside of the outdoor unit 2. Connected to the control board (not shown), and also connected to the indoor unit 2 via the inter-unit cable 4.

  Further, the solar panel 6 is installed so that the light receiving surface thereof is as vertical as possible with respect to sunlight in order to improve the power generation efficiency, and the panel fixture 9 for attaching the solar panel 6 to the outdoor unit 2 is an outdoor unit. 1 is firmly fixed to both side surfaces.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a display unit 21 that displays the operation status is provided in the substantially front center of the indoor unit 2. The display unit 21 includes a solar lamp (display lamp) 22, an operation lamp 23, and a timer lamp 24. An exhaust lamp 25, an intake lamp 26, and the like are arranged. The solar lamp 22 is lit when the power output from the solar panel 6 described later is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the operation lamp 23 is lit when the air conditioner 10 is in operation. The exhaust lamp 25 is lit when exhausting in the ventilation operation, and the intake lamp 26 is lit when inhaling in the ventilation operation.

  FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the air conditioner. FIG. 3 shows the indoor unit 2, the outdoor unit 1, the solar panel 6, the converter 8, and the ventilation fan 32.

  The indoor unit 2 is provided with an indoor control board 34 having a controller 33. The indoor control board 34 is connected to a commercial power source (single-phase 100 volts) 35, the outdoor unit 1, the display unit 21, and the ventilation fan 32, respectively. It is electrically connected. A power line 36 and a communication line 37 are wired between the indoor unit 2 and the outdoor unit 1, and a power switch 38 is interposed in the power line 36. The power switch 38 cuts off or connects the AC power supply according to the amount of power of the solar panel 6. An electric wire 43 for operating the ventilation fan 32 (for example, DC 12 volts flows) is wired to the ventilation fan 32 via a switching relay 42, and either the commercial power source 35 or the power from the solar panel 6 is automatically supplied. To be supplied. A switching relay 42 is interposed. The ventilation fan 32 is provided behind the indoor unit 2 and provided outside the wall hole (not shown) through which the refrigerant pipe 3 passes between the units. The ventilation fan 32 can be operated and operated while the air conditioner 10 is stopped. The operation operation is performed by selecting either the operation or the intake operation. When the exhaust operation or the intake operation is performed, the exhaust lamp 25 or the intake lamp 26 is turned on, and when the ventilation fan 32 is operated by the solar panel 6, the solar lamp 22 is turned on simultaneously.

  The outdoor unit 1 is provided with a compressor 40, an outdoor control board 43, and the like. The control board 43 is provided with a smoothing circuit 44, a changeover switch 45, and an inverter circuit 46. These circuits 44 to 46 and the air conditioner are provided. A control device (microcomputer) 47 for controlling 10 electrical components is provided. The smoothing circuit 44 is equipped with a diode and a capacitor for double voltage rectification (power supply unit) of alternating current from a single-phase 100 volt AC power supply, a smoothing capacitor, a noise filter, and the like. The changeover switch 45 connects either the direct current from the alternating current power supply side or the output from the solar panel side to the inverter circuit 46 side. The inverter circuit 46 is equipped with six power transistors and a control unit (not shown) constituting the inverter circuit 46. This control unit supplies a switching signal based on the PWM system to the power transistor of the inverter circuit 46. The inverter circuit 46 is connected to the compressor 40.

  The converter 8 boosts the voltage generated by the solar panel 6, calculates the amount of power generated by the solar panel 6, determines whether the generated power can drive the inverter circuit 46, and sends a signal. When the inverter circuit 46 can be driven, a reference value 2 signal (DC 20 volts) is transmitted, and when the inverter circuit 46 cannot be driven, a reference value 1 signal (DC 10 volts) is transmitted.

  The solar panel 6 is wired to the outdoor unit 1 through the converter 8, and is connected to the outdoor control board 43 through a plurality of electric wires 51 for power and communication. After the output of the solar panel 6 is boosted by the converter 8 through the power line, a direct current output (DC 280 volts) is supplied to the inverter circuit 46. Further, the amount of power of the solar panel 6 is calculated through the communication line, and a signal of the amount of power is transmitted to the control device 47. In addition, the solar panel 6 is wired to the indoor unit 2 via the converter 8 with an electric wire 41 (for example, DC 12 volts flows).

  Next, lighting and extinguishing of the solar lamp when the solar panel power source generates power will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4.

  First, when the solar panel 6 is irradiated with sunlight, the solar panel 6 starts power generation (step S1). The amount of power generation is calculated in the converter 8 (step S2), and the signal is transmitted to the control device 47. The control device 47 confirms whether the indoor solar lamp 22 is lit (step S3). When the light is off, it is determined whether the power generation amount is equal to or greater than the reference value 2 (step S4). If the reference value is 2, the ON information is transmitted from the outside to the room (step S5), and the solar lamp 22 is turned on. Lights up (step S6). If the power generation amount is equal to or less than the reference value 2 in step S4, the OFF information is transmitted (step S7) and the solar lamp 22 is kept off (step S8).

  In step S3, when the solar lamp 22 is lit, if the power generation amount is the reference value 1, OFF information is transmitted from the outside to the room (step S10), and the solar lamp is turned off (step S11). If the power generation amount is the reference value 2, ON information is transmitted from the outdoor to the indoor (step S5), and the solar lamp is kept on (step S6).

  By lighting the solar lamp 22 in this way, if the operation of the air conditioner 10 is stopped, the user can determine whether or not the air conditioning operation by the solar panel 6 is possible. It can be recognized that the electricity bill can be saved even if the operation is started.

  Further, if the air conditioner 10 is in operation, it can be realized that the air conditioning operation by the solar panel 6 is performed.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various change is performed within the range of the summary of this invention described in the claim. It is possible.

  In the present embodiment, the power generation amount of the solar panel 6 is displayed by turning on / off the solar lamp 22. For example, a plurality of solar lamps are arranged and the number of lighting is changed in accordance with the amount of power generation (level). Anyway.

  This embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5. When the solar panel 6 starts power generation (step S 21), the power generation amount is calculated by the converter 8 (step S 22), and the control device 47 is based on this value. Transmits a signal indicating the amount of power generation to the controller 3 of the indoor unit 2 (step S23). Based on this signal, the controller 33 calculates the number of solar lamps to be turned on and turns on the solar lamps (step S24). As a result, when the amount of power generation is large, the air-conditioning operation by the solar panel 6 can be performed for a long time. there is a possibility. Thereby, the user can predict the possibility of the operation time by the solar panel 6, and can operate / stop the economical air conditioner 10 and adjust the room temperature.

  In addition to changing the number of lighting of the solar lamps according to the amount of power generation, the lighting color and brightness of the solar lamps may be changed and displayed according to the amount of power generation.

It is an external view of the air conditioning apparatus provided with the solar panel in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the lamp | ramp of the display part of an indoor unit. It is a control block diagram of an air conditioning apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the lighting operation of a display lamp. It is a flowchart which shows the electric power generation amount and the lighting operation of a solar lamp.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outdoor unit 2 Indoor unit 5 Remote control 6 Solar panel 8 Converter 10 Air conditioner 21 Display part 22 Solar lamp (display lamp)
23 Operation lamp 25 Exhaust lamp 26 Intake lamp 32 Ventilation fan 33 Controller 34 Indoor control board 35 Commercial power supply (single-phase 100 volts)
36 Power line 37 Communication line 38 Power switch 40 Compressor 43 Control board 44 Smoothing circuit 45 Changeover switch 46 Inverter circuit

Claims (2)

An air conditioner that includes an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, and includes a refrigeration circuit configured by sequentially connecting a compressor, a condenser, a decompression device, and an evaporator in a ring shape with a refrigerant pipe, and an inverter circuit that drives the compressor In the machine
An air conditioner characterized in that a solar panel that supplies power to the inverter circuit and a display lamp that is turned on when the power output from the solar panel is equal to or greater than a predetermined value are provided in the indoor unit. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the display lamp changes a display according to a power generation amount of a solar panel.

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