Youre right. I did not explain my point very well. But there most certainly is "waste," at least in this engineer's opinion of what "waste" is. And yes, if you disconnect all loads, no mechanical loss thru the alternator occurs. But my point is that these chips are more efficient (so I hear, I'm still skeptical about them) than running freon compressors. In which case, not as much of a load is required, which pushed you up on the efficiency curve, thus conserving energy.
It's hard to explain, and I don't know the ins and outs of what these kids are exploring. None of us do. So I don't think we should slam it, as many people here are doing. At the very least, it's a learning experience.