Offgrid, solar powered fridge, with no battery bank (2018) | Hacker News Reader

Offgrid, solar powered fridge, with no battery bank (2018)

fridge0.branchable.com

13 pointssnthd5 comments

Second paragraph: "It ties into the typical offfgrid system of a solar charge controller, battery bank, and photovoltaic panels to maintain a safe temperature range."

So it doesn't have a battery bank, but you're expected to plug it into one.

But then it explains the real difference. Still worth a read, don't give up at that second paragraph!

It trades thermal batteries for electrical batteries. Good choice. Bury it in the ground and have a few hundred pounds of pig iron ingots to be the thermal battery, you're gold. I'd even use lead weights, covered with polyethylene sheeting, as the thermal battery, the density is really nice.

Last year I designed a solar powered freezer for use in Zimbabwe that doesn't need any solar panels at all. Completely passive. It's a cousin to the refrigerator design that Einstein came up with.

Have you ever seen the ISAAC Solar Ice Maker design?

https://www.energy-concepts.com/_pages/app_isaac_solar_ice_m...

I would be curious what you think of the design.

> The only battery power fridge0 needs is enough to turn it off cleanly when the solar panels stop producing -- a few minutes of power instead of days -- and a small amount for its computer control.

What does 'turn it off cleanly' mean here? I always thought fridges just turned on or off continuously depending on the temperature and thermostat setting. It's just a motor and a compressor, it doesn't need a special shutdown procedure, does it?

"last updated 7 years 7 months ago"

and is in no way relevant, pv and lithium batteries are so cheap that it's just easier to work a bit harder and buy a factory made chest style refrigerator, or change out the $4 thermostat from a freezer to one that keeps fridge temperatures

"Comrade" Trump just made solar the biggest energy boom in history, with record sales for China worldwide, war baby war !, the hottest year on record, pyrocumulonimbus clouds in the south of France sure makes hinky off griddy projects from the past look quaint.

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