Low-cost Efficient DC Drive for Off-Grid Fridge

Solar refrigerators and freezers are still too expensive for the majority of those who live off-grid in emerging markets. Amped Innovation is developing a solar fridge/freezer and a solar ice maker that is finally affordable. We will achieve affordability through two methods: (1) reducing the cost of DC power generation and (2) reducing the overall system battery size. We have already achieved the first goal with our WOWsolar DC Solar Battery Controller product family (www.ampedinnovation.com) which is installed in over 45,000 homes across 20 countries. Our WOWsolar Controller has 1/10th the number of electronic components (with just 30 circuit components!) of other SHS products on the market and 5X the power handling capability (scalability from 6W up to 100W natively and up to 500W with add-on modules). We are incorporating the same architecture that is in our WOWsolar DC Solar Battery Controller into our new WOWsolar Productive-Use Controller, which is designed specifically to run our off-grid fridge and ice maker, with a couple of new features specific to running our cold chain products. In order to reduce the refrigerator battery requirements, we are incorporating run-in-thesun and PAYGO circuitry directly into our refrigerator and our ice maker, and optimizing the thermal cycling of the system for high temperature and high humidity. Finally, we are adding a water jacket to the fridge/freezer that can freeze to ensure cooling through the night. This R&D grant will enable us to translate our existing ultra-affordable power generation circuitry into our cold chain products.