#solarfridge

[allpowersglobal]

Posted @withregram • @offthegridguide Imagine having a working fridge or deep freezer long after the power has gone out. This added convenience would take some burden off of you following natural disaster or SHTF longterm scenario. Focus on other avenues of survival while relying on frozen foods as sustenance. Use the freezer to store meats from a hunt. Follow @practicalprepping I could write a long and exhaustive "how-to-guide" for setting up a solar powered refrigerator or freezer. But.. it's really a simple process and there are countless websites on this topic or similar setups. 1. Get a fridge/freezer thats 12v. 2. Research the wattage used per hour. Calculate how many watts you need to power it. 3. Determine what size panel and battery bank you need. For a small fridge, a 100 watt panel and two marine deep cycle batteries should be sufficient. 4. Place the panel in direct sun light, wire it to a controller, battery, and fridge. 5. Check out ALLPOWERS 500W 666Wh Portable Power Bank at www.allpowers.mobi #solarfridge #solarkitchen #solarpower #solarpanels #batterybank #offgrid #prepping @pathfindersurvival https://www.instagram.com/p/CG2LKRgHD5r/?igshid=1ft2ophby4ow0

[mhealatumich]

Project lead transitions for Solar Fridge 

Before I begin, let me give some context. It is my first semester as a co-project lead of the Solar Fridge team, and we’re planning on traveling to the Dominican Republic this Summer to perform needs assessment through collaboration with our global partner. My co-lead and I certainly bit off a lot stepping into our roles, and chewing it has been a little difficult so far. Thankfully, M-HEAL is comprised of a ton of intelligent, experienced people who have been willing to help.

The resources M-HEAL provides has been keeping us afloat. Stepping in as a project lead is difficult. Thankfully, the past project leads had enough foresight to create some leadership transition documents that detailed what they had learned through their experiences leading. We didn’t hesitate to make full use of it! Other examples of fantastic people who have recently given us help are Ryan Thomas with needs assessment planning, Chris Seow with storage organization, and Ayana Dambaeva with agreeing to meet with me to prep for my upcoming interview relating to medical research!

I’m saying this all to firstly thank all those nice enough to give our team help in the previous weeks but also to give a glowing recommendation to every resource M-HEAL provides. Make use of the wonderful people who will gladly help with any problem that presents itself and the documents they have created to give guidance. It’s done nothing but help our team so far!

[mhealatumich]

Solar Fridge Skates Towards Finding a New Community Partner 

As a project leader for Solar Fridge for the past few semesters, I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as a team. Last year we completed building our first full prototype. This year we recruited many wonderful members to take on new challenges. 

The goal of Solar Fridge is to prevent the spread of diseases which are often times preventable with vaccines. Vaccines are the most cost-effective way to protect a population from complicated diseases such as polio. We address this issue through cold-chain management. Cold- chain management is the distribution chain that the vaccines or other medications travel through to be delivered from the manufacturer to the patient. This requires high costs in investment in capital to maintain the temperatures in storage and movement of the vaccines and medicines. Clinics in rural areas of low resource areas have difficulties safely maintaining the cold chain due to lack of reliable electricity or equipment. If the vaccines or medicines are exposed to warmer and colder temperatures, the products may deteriorate. 

This semester we have been focusing on finding a partner community. Our first step was to create a wide array of possible organizations focused on rural health. A rubric was created to grade each organization on various categories such as the mission and the ability to host student design team. Once we finish this process, we will start building a relationship with the organization and visit them in the summer.

My favorite memory so far has been attending the M-HEAL ice-skating social with my Solar Fridge team. Starting from the left Adam, Krithika, me, Chris.

- Ayana 

[mhealatumich]

Final Steps from the Solar Fridge Team 

As final exams and summer plans increasingly capture the student consciousness, project teams are busy putting the finishing touches on a year’s worth of work. At Solar Fridge, each component of the Fridge is being brought together for the final assembly of a full scale prototype. This event marks the end of two semesters’ worth of designing, manufacturing, and testing, and marks the beginning of full-scale fridge testing. As leader of the condenser sub-team this year, I’ve seen the fridge’s condenser go from a mere pencil sketch to a high-functioning element at the heart of the Solar Fridge.

This month’s condenser work has revolved around one task: soldering. The condenser consists of a cascading zig-zag of half-inch copper pipe, which naturally requires soldering at each and every turn, coupling, and value. As a sub-team, we began with little to no soldering experience, but we had a goal to finish a leak-free condenser by mid-March, just in time for the full-fridge assembly. With practice and some help from Youtube, we improved our soldering technique each week, producing the carefully crafted condenser that the Solar Fridge needs to function at its full potential.

- Aidan Connolly