Solar Vaccine Refrigerator

The Appropriate Technology Collaborative

Solar Vaccine Refrigerator

Contact Solution Provider

John Barrie
The Appropriate Technology Collaborative
Ann Arbor, MI
48108
United States
734 668 4811
john@apptechdesign.org

Solution Overview & Benefits

The Solar Vaccine Refrigerator is made from locally sourced materials such as steel, charcoal, and ethanol or methanol. The fridge is made with a steel box, which is painted black and serves as a solar collector and absorber. The charcoal in the fridge rejects ethanol vapor when the steel box becomes hot, which flows into the condenser.

The condenser is made up of a series of pipes with cooling fins, where the ethanol vapor condenses into a liquid by reducing the temperature to the ambient air temperature. The evaporator, located inside the insulated box, captures the liquid which results in liquid ethanol in the evaporator and cool charcoal in the absorber.

The ethanol that is not absorbed back into the charcoal becomes very cold and results in the cold temperature inside the box, usually -10C to 0C degrees.

History & Development

This product is open source and can be built using locally available materials

Availability

Publicly available: yes
Countries where available: Worldwide
Price range (USD): Free

Additional Information