Solar Refrigerator Prototype

Abstract

This paper presented the design of a solar refrigerator of approximate 0.4 × 0.33 × 0.54 meters for preserving fresh food by receiving electrical energy from the solar system. This was to explore suitable energy efficiency for refrigerating between the refrigerating system with and without PID control. The efficiency was analyzed from five types of vegetables, namely cucumber, eggplant, bell pepper, raw tomato, and ripe tomato. These vegetables needed to be stored at 8-10 degrees Celsius and this experiment employed 8 degrees Celsius temperature. The results of the research showed that the refrigerating system without PID control uses a voltage of 11.29 volts and a current of 0.40 amperes that was equal to the electric power of 4.59 watts. The refrigerating system with PID control uses a voltage of 10.14 volts and a current of 0.27 amperes that was equal to the electrical power of 2.74 watts. This showed that energy consumption of the system with PID control was less than 36.93 % of without PIC control. The best time for energy storage of the solar system was around 14.30 p.m. with a light intensity of 32500 lux and a power of about 65 watts. The 60 ampere-hour batteries storing power in eight hours were able to store total electricity power of 580.53 watts or the current of 48.37 amperes that was enough to use refrigerator for a day. This was also able to develop more efficient solar refrigerator in the future. In addition to the solar energy, refrigerator with the PID control system can apply to other alternative energy for more efficiency such as wind power and water power.