Solar Powered Fridges and Their Refrigeration Cycles
There is a lot of bent towards going green. There are a lot of concerns about the technology which has the negative effect on the environment. In the refrigeration industry, there is concern about using technology that could destroy the environment. The refrigeration industry is also going for clean energy. There is a lot of inclination towards the refrigeration.
There are so many advantages of using the solar energy as the energy source for the refrigeration appliances. The first reason of using this kind power source is that the solar radiation is easily available. This makes it more affordable and easily accessible. The solar energy is good for the developing countries as it is very cost-effective.
Advantages of solar energy:
Here are some of the benefits of utilizing the solar energy:
1. The solar energy is clean and it is the renewable energy source.
2. The main thing in the solar energy are the solar panels. The solar panels will cost you money. After you install the solar panels the electricity will be produced free of any charge.
3. There is no chance of solar energy getting depleted. As long as the world exists, the solar energy will be here. The oil reserves on the other hands should last for another 40 to 5 years.
4. By using the solar energy, you are not polluting the environment in any way. It does not produce any pollution.
5. The solar panels or the solar cells do not produce any noise. The refrigeration systems that use electricity or oil have machinery parts which make a lot of noise.
6. The solar panels do not need a lot of maintenance. It saves time and labor. There are no moving parts in the solar system so the chances of damage are the minimum.
Disadvantages of solar energy:
Nothing is perfect. Despite all the benefits, there are some shortcomings of the solar power as well. It is important to know the shortcomings so that you can take care of them.
1. The first cost of the solar panels is a little high. They are not cheap. But the running cost of the panels is low.
2. The climate of the country can become a hindrance. The electricity generation is dependent on sunlight so different climate can be a problem.
3. The solar power does not have the same power as the similar sized conventional power station. They can cost a lot of money.
4. The solar power charges the batteries so that the solar power is usually at night as well. The batteries can be heavy and they can take up a lot of space. The batteries also need to be replaced from time to time.
How the solar-powered refrigeration works:
The upright fridges refrigeration systems which uses solar energy as a power source uses PV panel. It also uses the vapor compressor, reservoir, and storage that is thermal. This system also has electronic controls. For the solar power to work, it is important to create DC electrical power using the sun. The process which converts the sunlight into DC electric power happens because of the PV panels. The power of the DC electricity drives the compressor to circulate the refrigerant through the vapor-compression loop of refrigeration. This loop takes out the heat from the enclosure. In this enclosure, there is a thermal reservoir and a phase change of a material. The material is frozen as the heat is extracted from the enclosure. With the help of this process, an “ice pack” is created. The “ice pack” helps in maintaining the inner temperature. In this mean, for all of the folks out there from UK, you may also eye for cheap upright freezers for sale UK.
You can optimize the power by using certain features. One way of doing it is to a compressor control method. It can also be done by smoothing the power voltage with the help of a capacitor. The capacitor provides more current to the compressor during the start up. The rate of the change of the power voltage should be smooth. Measure it to make sure that it is smooth. It can be ensured by using a controller. The controller will tell you if the compressor is operating below or above the available greatest power. The controller allows you to adjust the compressor when required.
The efficiency can be increased by using expansion valve instead of the capillary tube. This will have a lot of effect on the efficiency of certain operating conditions. These little adjustments can be very significant in contributing to the majority of the available solar power into the thermal storage.
What makes it better?
The demand for the solar appliances is increasing because the standard use of the AC current supplied by the electric utility to offer power for a single vapor compression cooling system is linked to the electric grid which limits where that can be used. The solar powered appliances are environmentally friendly.
Possible refrigeration cycles for solar-powered appliances:
There are some classes of the refrigeration cycles that can be used for the refrigeration systems that are powered by the renewable energy.
1. One of the cycles is a standard mechanical vapor compression cycle. It requires an electrical response to a compressor that is hermetically sealed. The electricity is produced with the help of PV panels. This has the benefit of using the shelf technology. The disadvantages of the refrigeration cycles are the high cost and it requires an electricity storage sub-system.
2. Another refrigeration cycle is the intermittent adsorption cycle. This refrigeration system depends on the adsorption of the refrigerant gas at low pressure and the later desorption with the help of heat. The absorbent is the chemical compressor and it is driven by the heat.
3. The intermittent absorption refrigeration cycle is also used in the appliances which use renewable power source. It is quite similar to the adsorption system. The difference is that t uses liquid absorbents as compared to the solid absorbents.
4. There is also the continuous refrigeration cycle. In this system, the feed pump is driven by electricity. It uses the small amount of the PV electricity to drive the feed pump.
5. There is another cycle known as the platen-munters diffusion absorption cycle. It is a continuous cycle and does not have a mechanical pump.
