If you did not manage to see the Motorhome Monthly article on specifying and running a solar powered fridge featured in their February issue it is now available for you to down load from our website.
Vitrifrigo Solar Powered Fridge
The article was produced in association with Penguin Refrigeration, who supplied the 62 litre Vitrifrigo fridge and Actionvan who provided their rental Campervan with 55W Solaris Solar panel already fitted to the roof. The article runs guides you through the best way to specify and install a solar powered fridge, to ensure maximum efficiency and that everything is sized correctly. Over the period of the test the fridge ran constantly powered soley from the 55 Watt solar panel fitted to the roof of the motorhome.
The System in Practice
The installation was completed in May 2011 and initially the weather was hot and sunny with average temperatures during the day well above 25 degrees C. However, towards the end of the test, the weather deteriorated with more cloud cover and several exceptionally humid overcast days. The solar powered ridge was used on a daily basis, with the thermostat set midway giving a constant measured temperature of 6 degrees C inside. Over the weekends there was also occasional use of the stereo and the LED lighting. Over the 36-day test the only source of charge for the battery was from the 55W solar panel, which comfortably kept the battery condition well above its minimum (50 per cent), putting in more charge than the average daily discharge of 14.9 amp hr.
Did the Solar Powered Fridge Work?
Undoubtedly yes! This truly was a solar powered fridge. The test proved that a correctly installed and ventilated DC compressor fridge can run constantly for well in excess of a month from a battery powered solely from a solar panel. To achieve this required a quality fridge cabinet, with single evaporator and an efficient condenser, combined with a deep-cycle AGM battery and a rigid solar panel.
For more details of the fridge featured in this article follow the link to the C62i www.penguinfrigo.co.uk/shop/#c62i
