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SolarChill was born through separate discussions between Greenpeace,
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Health
Organization. The big challenge: providing affordable and
environmentally safe refrigeration for the maintenance of vaccines and
medicines, and the preservation of food, in parts of the world that
have no electricity or have unreliable supplies of electricity. At the
moment refrigerators in developing countries usually use kerosene,
propane and to far lesser extent, solar power. Vital medicine is
most often stored in unreliable kerosene refrigerators.
Kerosene and vaccines
Kerosene refrigerators consume about 1 litre of kerosene daily. Not only do they emit unpleasant fumes, they occasionally catch fire, they need to be regularly fuelled up, and they are often not reliable for maintaining the required vaccine temperature.
Of course they are also environmentally harmful as the burning of kerosene contributes to global warming. There are approximately 100,000 kerosene refrigerators in use today around the world for cooling vaccines, which means they produce approximately between 73 and 91 million kilograms of CO2 each year!
What about solar power?
Solar Vaccine Coolers are already in use in parts of the world that lack electricity, and they have proven to be more reliable than their kerosene counterparts.
However, there are only approximately 6,000 solar vaccine coolers around the world today. Two big problems: they rely on batteries, which are expensive and toxic to make and dispose of, and they cost more than kerosene coolers.
The cost of a solar cooler today is in the US$3500 to US$4500 range. In comparison, the cost of the SolarChill package, cooler and solar panels combined, is projected to come in around US$1500.
The birth of SolarChill
Coincidentally, at about the same time as we were talking with UNEP and WHO, the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) began the development of a new solar refrigerator that bypassed the use of batteries. We decided to join forces.
We provided the funds for the development of the first SolarChill prototypes. These were exhibited at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
What's so special about these refrigerators?
SolarChill refrigerators don't need batteries or a connection to the
electrical grid - they store power in three 60W voltaic panels. They do
however have an AC/DC converter, which provides flexibility to use
wind, hydropower, bio-gas or grid energy (and even a car
battery!) when there is not enough sun. The coolers are also energy efficient because they
have excellent insulation. They don't contribute to global
warming thanks to the special hydrocarbon system made by our friends at
DTI and their partners.
Even maintaining a constant temperature, important where medicine is concerned, doesn't need an electronic controller - it is managed through natural convection methods.
A single SolarChill unit can serve a population of 50,000 people for preserving vaccines, and will be 50 - 60 percent cheaper than current solar refrigerator models.
Can I buy one for my new kitchen?
Not yet ... a second generation of prototypes of the SolarChill Vaccine Cooler went into field testing at the beginning of 2004 in Senegal, Indonesia and Cuba. 10 prototypes of the chest freezer vaccine cooler are being tested under a variety of climatic conditions, including at the DTI laboratory in Denmark.
Plans call for similar field testing of the upright freezer SolarChill Food Refrigerator in 2005.
After that, the technology will be made freely available to manufacturers around the world, so we hope that after that SolarChill will be available in both developing countries and your local department store.
Kerosene and vaccines
Kerosene refrigerators consume about 1 litre of kerosene daily. Not only do they emit unpleasant fumes, they occasionally catch fire, they need to be regularly fuelled up, and they are often not reliable for maintaining the required vaccine temperature.
Of course they are also environmentally harmful as the burning of kerosene contributes to global warming. There are approximately 100,000 kerosene refrigerators in use today around the world for cooling vaccines, which means they produce approximately between 73 and 91 million kilograms of CO2 each year!
What about solar power?
Solar Vaccine Coolers are already in use in parts of the world that lack electricity, and they have proven to be more reliable than their kerosene counterparts.
However, there are only approximately 6,000 solar vaccine coolers around the world today. Two big problems: they rely on batteries, which are expensive and toxic to make and dispose of, and they cost more than kerosene coolers.
The cost of a solar cooler today is in the US$3500 to US$4500 range. In comparison, the cost of the SolarChill package, cooler and solar panels combined, is projected to come in around US$1500.
The birth of SolarChill
Coincidentally, at about the same time as we were talking with UNEP and WHO, the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) began the development of a new solar refrigerator that bypassed the use of batteries. We decided to join forces.
We provided the funds for the development of the first SolarChill prototypes. These were exhibited at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
What's so special about these refrigerators?
Dispensing polio vaccine. Solar chill technology will allow vital vaccines to reach remote areas to help save lives.
Even maintaining a constant temperature, important where medicine is concerned, doesn't need an electronic controller - it is managed through natural convection methods.
A single SolarChill unit can serve a population of 50,000 people for preserving vaccines, and will be 50 - 60 percent cheaper than current solar refrigerator models.
Can I buy one for my new kitchen?
Not yet ... a second generation of prototypes of the SolarChill Vaccine Cooler went into field testing at the beginning of 2004 in Senegal, Indonesia and Cuba. 10 prototypes of the chest freezer vaccine cooler are being tested under a variety of climatic conditions, including at the DTI laboratory in Denmark.
Plans call for similar field testing of the upright freezer SolarChill Food Refrigerator in 2005.
After that, the technology will be made freely available to manufacturers around the world, so we hope that after that SolarChill will be available in both developing countries and your local department store.
