Solar Powered Refrigerators

Energy crisis and global warming that resulted due to the excessive use of fossil fuels has promoted mankind to not only look of renewable, but also eco-friendly solutions to overcome these difficulties. Solar powered refrigerators are one such solution that is slowly being developed and implemented to combat energy crisis and global warming.

As the name suggests, solar refrigerators are being developed in order to harness solar energy for cooling processes. Some basic objectives behind the development of these refrigerators are stated below.

Prevent Global Warming: One of the biggest objective behind the development of solar refrigerators was to prevent global warming. Normal refrigerators that are powered by electricity, use up a lot of energy and indirectly contribute a lot to global warming.
Energy Crisis: Another very big reason was to prevent energy crisis. As mentioned above, refrigerators that are powered by electricity consume a lot of energy. These refrigerators however cool and preserve food with the help of abundant solar energy.
Eradication of Food Shortage: Refrigerators running on solar energy would prove to be more advantageous, if they are put to use in tropical regions, suffering from food shortage. The tropical regions face the direct glare of the sun’s rays and thus are potential places where solar energy can be used. The more intense the solar energy the more food can be stored in the refrigerator.

How do Solar Refrigerators Work

The refrigerator basically deploys the concepts of solar power conduction and convection. This device does not require any electricity and the cooling method that is deployed pretty different from the normal refrigerator. The cooling device is made up of two cylinders that are located one inside another. The cylinders can be designed and made with the help of any material that include wood, cardboard and even metal. The gap that is left between the cylinders is then filled up with organic matter like wood, animal waste, organic or kitchen waste etc. This decomposable matter is then saturated with generous quantities of water and is left out in the sun. The heat of the sun evaporates the water that is present in between the cylinders. The water that turns to steam, takes all the heat with it while escaping to the atmosphere, thus cooling down the temperature inside the inner cylinder to about 6 degrees Celsius.

Another type of solar powered refrigerator is the one that works with the help of a regular solar panel. This type of refrigerator generates electricity with the help of solar panels and then uses the electricity like a normal plug-in refrigerator. Though this type of refrigerator is powered by solar energy, it is not hundred percent eco-friendly as the cooling gases that are used in the refrigerator and the ones generated due to cooling, contribute to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer.

Advantages of Solar Refrigerators

One of the biggest practical advantages of solar powered refrigerators is that they can be made using the least possible resources. On the other hand, the ones powered by solar panels, are expensive to manufacture and are also rather bulky. These refrigerators work according to the atmospheric temperatures i.e. the greater the heat of the sun, the lesser the temperature will be there in the inner cylinder. The drop and rise in the heat of the sun directly affects the rate of cooing. This solar powered heating device can be used to replace the energy-efficient refrigerators.

Environmentally friendly: Harnesses the energy of the sun to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and eliminates the need for batteries that can be damaging to the Earth upon disposal
Longevity: Operates continuously for years as proven by prototype units tested at various locations around the world
Scalable: Suits applications in a wide range of sizes, from portable 50-liter coolers to building-size air-cooling systems