As anyone who lives in a hot climate like I do here in Texas can tell you, in the summer AC is a must and it really runs up the electric bills. A company called SolCool has a really fantastic sounding AC Unit that aims to drastically lower electric bills.

The SolCool V4 is a completely DC powered AC unit that uses 500W of power. The unit is in the 1.5 to 2 ton range which makes it appropriate for most moderate sized homes. The battery can run for 24 hours after a power outage, which is a big deal in rural parts of Texas where power goes out if the neighbor’s cat farts.
The unit can heat and cool and the battery is recharged via solar panels during the day and runs from stored power at night. There is no word on the price of the unit, but if it can shave the clamed greater than 75% energy savings from electric bills as compared to standard AC units it may be well worth the cost, whatever the cost is. Story and image via CNET.News.com