National Autonomous University of Mexico's Solar Invention Can Cool Home and Fridge Mexico News Daily
go to original January 11, 2016

Rivera and the solar-powered cooling system. (UNAM)

Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have developed a solar energy system that can not only be used to cool living areas but refrigerate food as well.

The team of researchers at UNAM’s Renewable Energies Institute (IER) is led by Dr. Wilfrido Rivera Gómez Franco, who said the system can raise water temperature from 20 to 110 degrees C, or reduce it to below 0.

What makes it different from conventional domestic cooling systems, like those found in fridges and air conditioning units, is that Rivera’s foregoes the use of a compressor connected to the power grid and relies solely on solar energy. It also uses ammonia as the refrigerant.

“It may sound paradoxical, but with our array of solar panels we manage to harness the sun’s energy and create cold with it,” said Rivera.

Currently, the project’s set-up includes a 60-square-meter solar array, which produces enough energy to cool or heat an 80-square-meter room.

The developers are currently focusing on evaluating the system’s performance under several temperature conditions and refining their control over it. The next stage would be to install it in the real-world environment of one of the institution’s laboratories.

Read the rest at Mexico News Daily

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