The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sunlight to keep things chilled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sunlight to keep things chilled

Special Correspondent

Students fabricate solar-powered refrigerator Students fabricate solar-powered refrigerator

BANGALORE: If some manufacturer takes it up on a commercial scale, cold beverages may not necessarily be ruled out during constant power outages in summer. Or those in the rural areas with erratic power supply may not have to do without refrigerators.

Three mechanical engineering students of Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Tumkur, have fabricated a refrigerator that runs on batteries powered by solar energy.

Vapour compression

Tanmoy Roy, Shakib Naushad and Anirban De were helped by Abdul Sharieff from the faculty to fabricate the refrigerator.

They first studied the working of solar panels and vapour compression refrigeration and then tried to design one that would suit rural areas that face a shortage of conventional power.

In solar photovoltaic refrigeration, the cooling effect is produced through an ordinary vapour compression cycle, the students said.

The compressor is driven by power from photovoltaic (solar) cells.

Air-tight

The batteries supply the power to run the single hermetic compressor, which is sealed and air-tight and does not require recharging under normal conditions, they said. The energy from the solar panels is converted into direct current, which is passed through a charge controller that regulates the voltage.

After achieving the desired voltage, the charge controller directly supplies the power to the compressor.

Another wire is connected to the batteries, which get charged simultaneously.

This means even on cloudy days, when there is less solar energy or at night, the batteries can continue to act as a power backup.

Challenging task

The most challenging task for the students was to incorporate a DC motor inside the compressor chamber by removing the conventional AC motor and taking into account all feasibilities, including the power required. Once they overcame it, they could get the refrigerator working.

"It is possible to have fairly large-size refrigeration systems working in rural areas and on farms and these can be used to preserve farm produce till they can be marketed.

While large cold storage warehousing is still in the planning stage, cooperatives of farmers can pool resources for such smaller refrigeration systems and save a lot of wastage and economic losses," the students said.

This, after all, is the age of innovative ideas that can work.

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