Is it possible to make a solar-powered air-conditioned dark suit?
June 22, 2009 9:36 PM Subscribe
So I'm going to a wedding in August out by some lake, and I got to thinking how I'm going to be wearing this dark suit, under the sun, for hours. Now, I know there's such a thing as a drinks cooler that's solar-powered - do you think it would be possible to cover a dark suit in solar panels such that you could rig some kind of air-conditioning unit underneath? Enough to counteract having to wear a dark suit under an August sun? I recognize that this question is kinda theoretical (and vaguely silly) but I was wondering if the more tech-minded of you all might be able to provide some idea how something like this might be possible. Thanks in advance!
Are you in the wedding, and thus required to wear a dark suit? Because if not, consider wearing a seersucker suit instead. This is precisely the type of occasion for which it is appropriate.
posted by padraigin at 9:42 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by padraigin at 9:42 PM on June 22, 2009
Although according to this patent someone seems to consider the idea workable.
posted by contraption at 9:45 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by contraption at 9:45 PM on June 22, 2009
I also popped in to suggest the seesucker suit, or a linen suit.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:49 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by DarlingBri at 9:49 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
You could maybe conceal some Peltier devices in your suit, as some guy did with this cooling backpack. Unfortunately, the backpack also uses two 12 volt motorcycle batteries... I don't think you're going to get that kind of power from solar panels attached to a suit.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:57 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:57 PM on June 22, 2009
Dude. What you want-- and trust me, I did a couple laps around the Javits Center in NYC during a crowded trade show wearing one and didn't keel over dead of heat exhaustion-- is a cooling vest. Preferably one sort of like this, 'cept you're going to need a portable tank and circulation pump.
It's basically a Fremen stillsuit, only without the recycled bodily fluids. Failing access to NASA-derived cooling technology or the traders of Arrakis, though, I think you'd probably be better off rocking the linen.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 9:59 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
It's basically a Fremen stillsuit, only without the recycled bodily fluids. Failing access to NASA-derived cooling technology or the traders of Arrakis, though, I think you'd probably be better off rocking the linen.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 9:59 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
My grandfather rigged up a tall straw hat with a little battery-powered fan inside it to keep him cool on hot days. I'm sure if he could have gotten a small solar cell for as cheap as a bunch of AA batteries he would have been all over taking the cooling-hat solar.
I think you'd look like a bit of a dork wearing a tall straw hat at a wedding, but my grandpa rocked that hat all summer for years.
posted by crinklebat at 10:02 PM on June 22, 2009
I think you'd look like a bit of a dork wearing a tall straw hat at a wedding, but my grandpa rocked that hat all summer for years.
posted by crinklebat at 10:02 PM on June 22, 2009
Is such a thing possible? Sure. You'd start off with the liquid cooling garment from a spacesuit, or one of these, and couple it to a Peltier cooler and heatsink, probably in a backpack. The thing that makes it impractical is the power requirements for the Peltiers. They suck juice like crazy. I don't know if you could get enough power from solar cells to really make it work well. You might need a power umbilical to get any meaningful cooling, and if you do that you might as well run a chilled water line like the Army's vehicle-based cooling systems do.
If you were willing to make it less 'green,' you could probably stay cool for a shorter amount of time by using an open-cycle gas system. Instead of Peltier coolers and atmospheric heat sinks, carry some form of compressed gas that you'd vent slowly. As it decompresses its temperature drops, and you can use that to chill (via a heat exchanger) the coolant running through the vest or suit. Since it's open-cycle, you don't need a condenser or compressor, or a power source; you just swap gas canisters when they run out. The ideal candidates for the gas supply are all pretty nasty, though: you want something that you can compress to a liquid and store in a lightweight container, but that boils instantly to a gas at room temperature. Propane would work, but it's a greenhouse contributor. Same with most of the actual refrigerants (Freon, etc.). CO2 doesn't liquefy easily. I think that would be your weakness right there. Still, if you didn't mind venting a ton of propane, you could probably do it. Just don't go near the smoking section. Or the kitchen. Or candles.
Alternately, instead of using a liquid/gas state change in an open-cycle system, you could use solid/liquid or solid/gas — water ice or dry ice (CO2) being the obvious choices. The water ice leaves you with a drippy problem of waste water, and dry ice seems like it would make the heat exchanger design more difficult, but they're probably not impossible. (At least with a water ice system, you could refill your supply at the bar.)
But is there any practical solution that I think you can find between now and the wedding? No, not really. Light colored suits are your friend.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:50 PM on June 22, 2009
If you were willing to make it less 'green,' you could probably stay cool for a shorter amount of time by using an open-cycle gas system. Instead of Peltier coolers and atmospheric heat sinks, carry some form of compressed gas that you'd vent slowly. As it decompresses its temperature drops, and you can use that to chill (via a heat exchanger) the coolant running through the vest or suit. Since it's open-cycle, you don't need a condenser or compressor, or a power source; you just swap gas canisters when they run out. The ideal candidates for the gas supply are all pretty nasty, though: you want something that you can compress to a liquid and store in a lightweight container, but that boils instantly to a gas at room temperature. Propane would work, but it's a greenhouse contributor. Same with most of the actual refrigerants (Freon, etc.). CO2 doesn't liquefy easily. I think that would be your weakness right there. Still, if you didn't mind venting a ton of propane, you could probably do it. Just don't go near the smoking section. Or the kitchen. Or candles.
Alternately, instead of using a liquid/gas state change in an open-cycle system, you could use solid/liquid or solid/gas — water ice or dry ice (CO2) being the obvious choices. The water ice leaves you with a drippy problem of waste water, and dry ice seems like it would make the heat exchanger design more difficult, but they're probably not impossible. (At least with a water ice system, you could refill your supply at the bar.)
But is there any practical solution that I think you can find between now and the wedding? No, not really. Light colored suits are your friend.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:50 PM on June 22, 2009
You also want a light, high quality button down shirt and, for a wedding at a lake, you might be able to get away with wearing nice leather sandals or topsiders without socks.
posted by betsybetsy at 11:07 PM on June 22, 2009
posted by betsybetsy at 11:07 PM on June 22, 2009
Since this is all theoretical-impractical anyway, here's a low-tech solution - take off your jacket, dunk it in the lake when no-one is looking, put it back on. As the water evaporates it will cool you off for hours. Of course you'll be wet, and it will probably screw up the jacket... but you'd be cool. When traveling in hot places, I'll wear a white cotton shirt over a tank top - so I can remove and wet the cotton shirt. People look at me like I'm nuts, but I'll be cool for the next 2 hours (cotton dries slowly) I've climbed a few mayan pyramids fairly comfortably that way!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:38 AM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:38 AM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
There are assorted cooling vests marketed to people with MS, but some of them might have problems under a suit.
posted by dilettante at 3:30 AM on June 23, 2009
posted by dilettante at 3:30 AM on June 23, 2009
One non-clothing cooling option for hot days that I use with great success is a bit of ice from a drink applied to what I think of as pulse points (could be wrong on that but they work so hey) - inside of the wrist, inside of the elbow, just below and behind the ear, the notch at the base of your throat. I'm very prone to overheating, and I find cooling those spots with a bit of ice o cold water helps tremendously.
posted by Billegible at 4:44 AM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Billegible at 4:44 AM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
Big foam mascot suits usually have a muffin fan mounted to the body of the suit and run off of a battery. A single large muffin fan may be too bulky to hide under a suit jacket, but you could get several small ones (maybe the size that they put over North Bridge chips, maybe an inch on the diagonal?), open up your shirt collar, and fit them into the collar, pointing down. Wire them up to a battery pack that you can hide in your pocket. You'll get constant cooling air running right down your back.
posted by backseatpilot at 4:47 AM on June 23, 2009
posted by backseatpilot at 4:47 AM on June 23, 2009
Response by poster: Ha ha!
Tremendous answers.
Thank you.
I think I will look for a linen suit,
and stay close to the ice cube bucket.
posted by Sully at 6:27 AM on June 23, 2009
Tremendous answers.
Thank you.
I think I will look for a linen suit,
and stay close to the ice cube bucket.
posted by Sully at 6:27 AM on June 23, 2009
Maybe a different approach? BMW is making black leather motorcycle apparel that's been treated to reflect 95% of sunlight. It looks like any other leather, but it stays substantially cooler than untreated leather.
posted by workerant at 7:12 AM on June 23, 2009
posted by workerant at 7:12 AM on June 23, 2009
Google this: HASPEL COTTON SUIT
Problem solved.
$170.00 and it looks like a million. Just remember to stop wearing it after Labor Day.
posted by Zambrano at 8:33 AM on June 23, 2009
Problem solved.
$170.00 and it looks like a million. Just remember to stop wearing it after Labor Day.
posted by Zambrano at 8:33 AM on June 23, 2009
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posted by contraption at 9:41 PM on June 22, 2009