Emily Cummins, a 21-year old UK student, has produced a portable, solar-powered fridge that can be constructed from simple components, making it a perfect innovation for the developing world where reliable electricity is often not accessible. Basing her design on the principle of evaporation – the same way we cool ourselves through perspiration – Cummins has created a device with two nesting cylinders, leaving space in a bottom compartment that can be filled with materials such as sand or soil that are then soaked in water, as this water evaporates, the inner chamber cools, maintaining a temperature around 43 F (6 C). Cummins, who spent several months perfecting her design in Africa, also plans to develop a more sophisticated model that can be used to transport medical supplies.
[via MailOnline]
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looks like great design, but how much water will it need? africa isn’t the continent with easiest access to it…
January 10th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
This concept is not new; it is actually already being used. Mohammed Bah Abba, a grass-root innovator from Nigeria, invented Zeer- pot-in-pot cooling system. Zeer is now widely used in Nigeria and other African nations. It is sad to see how developed world fobs off the developing world of the little innovations it produces.
http://ruralindia.blogspot.com/2008/05/almost-free-refrigeration-using.html
January 12th, 2009 at 2:07 am