Experimental Investigation of a Solar Powered Eco-Fridge

The objective of this paper was to experimentally investigate the performance of a solar powered eco-fridge under direct sunlight and various wind velocities. The experiment was done using solar powered eco-fridge, water as the refrigerant and cotton as the filler material. The solar powered eco-fridge works on the principle of evaporative cooling. Sunlight heats up the wet filler material and the solar energy causes the water to evaporate from the filler material. As the wet medium or filler material in between the cylinders is in contact with the inner cylinder the latent heat of vaporization is taken from the inner cylinder. Due to this, the inner cylinder becomes cooler and makes it perfect for the storage of perishables. The results indicate that the solar powered eco-fridge works normally and efficiently under all the environment conditions. The combined effect of sunlight and wind promotes the evaporation, thereby decreasing the temperature. The performance of solar powered eco-fridge had improved under direct sunlight and heavy wind velocities. The results show that the temperature inside the inner cylinder gets reduced between 5ºC to 9ºC on various experimental conditions