New "old" idea about renewably powered refrigeration

[martin]

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/adam_grosser_and_his_sustainable_fridge.html
With Stamford University behind it, I doubt it's a scam - discuss!

[Ivan]

Finally found it - http://fourmileisland.com/IceBox.htm - A great American DIY passive refrigerator. Stores 'coolth' from winter for use all year round. The article says they've been using it for 20years, but I came across this article a few years ago, so probably more like 25year old design!

[dhaslam]

Another old idea is the wine cooler that just uses water evaporation to keep a wine bottle cool.

[Ivan]

and if you want to make large quantities of ice from solar power:   http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/P13.pdf

[billi]

Hi

I was thinking of a solar driven fridge my self over the week end ......
So i did find on the net a 12 volt DC driven icecube maker  , that uses 6 A and produces  12-15 cubes of ice in 20 minutes

I was woundering if the thermosifon idea works  here as well ? And how much ice i need to hold a standard sized fridge cold .....over night ?

Just produce ice cubes during the day with a 50-100 watt PV panel (buffered by one deep cycle battery and perhaps a time clock)  and store the cubes in a chamber in the top of the fridge and recollect the melting water to produce more ice next day ....


Perhaps too complicated   

billi



 

[Ivan]

Most of the small fridge/freezers run on thermoelectric devices (peltier). They're not as efficient as a heatpump (like a standard fridge). The other thing you could look at is using solar heat in a gas-fridge/freezer. Gas-powered devices are used in camping and can be obtained cheaply second hand. Not sure what the minimum working temperature would be, but there's a good chance that solar heatpipes would achieve the required temperature.