Performance and applicability of a dc refrigerator powered by the photovoltaics

Due to the gradual depletion and excessive consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting environmental problems, increasing attention has been paid to the utilization of the renewable energy sources such as solar energy, etc. The development and performance investigation of a photovoltaic-powered refrigerator is presented in the paper. The field performance test results show that the refrigerator can work well in Shanghai area and the lowest temperature in the freezer can reach near $−15°C$ and the power consumption is also reasonable. Furthermore, the energy flow of the system and applicability of it to different climatic regions have been analyzed and discussed. It can be concluded that the performance of the refrigerator is very stable and it can serve for perishable food storage, vaccine, and drug depositing at low temperatures in the remote area and it can even be used as the electrical appliance in “zero-energy” building.