I've seen a killawatt meter used on some different mini split units. The 6000-8000 BTU units use arund 600-700 watts of power. The 9-10k BTU units use around 900 watts. A 12k btu will use around 1100.Back to Solar talk:
Thad, I'm leaning toward following your lead and buying Pioneer, a name that comes up often and has your positive feedback. In one of your earlier notes you said that it was using 1100 watts. How did you get that exact measurement? Was there any variation or was the 1100 constant?
The SEER rating will affect those numbers, higher the better.
If you've got a good sun spot, 1200-1400 of solar will cover you for a 8k BTU unit. Most tinyhomes are good with 1 8kbtu unit, if your in a bigger house (but still small) you might need a 10-12k unit. Units with 2 heads can also be nice, but spendy.