Solus 8 cuft chest type freezer (12volt) [RE-wrenches]

[Foster, Robert]

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Mark,

We have been testing the SOLUS refrigerator (now renamed SunDanzer) 
for the past year and half in NM for NASA and also more recently in 
Mexico and Guatemala (NASA holds patent rights).  The refrigerator 
has worked well and is a dc drive unit which uses a variable speed dc 
compressor that is direct coupled to the module using peak power 
point tracking.  Units are either 12 or 24 V nominal dc.  They have a 
battery free unit with ice storage (which uses a phase change 
water-glycol ice storage at about 30F).  This is good for about 5-6 
days of cold storage if cloudy (depends on your ambient temp).  We 
would switch out 7 gallons of water every day to exercise the unit 
and it had no problem keeping up during a hot NM summer (exposed to 
ambient conditions).  If you do not use the refrigerator on a regular 
basis and it is always sunny, it could eventually act as a freezer 
(with cooler ambient temperatures, so don't use as a vaccine 
refrigerator).  The refrigerator draws about 50-55 Watts, although 
you need a module larger than that to run it (for compressor 
start-up).  The manufacturer recommends 90 - 150 Watts (depending on 
your solar resource).  We actually successfully ran a unit here in 
sunny New Mexico on 80 Watts, but that did cause increased start-up 
attempts in the morning (more cycling), so best to stick to the 90 W 
minimum.  Since you can eliminate batteries and an inverter - and 
thus less modules, capital cost savings for the direct drive ice 
storage refrigerator is pretty good as compared to more conventional 
PV refrigeration approaches.

SunDanzer also has a battery powered refrigerator unit (dc) which 
draws about 2.2 A at 24 V and does have thermostat control.  Of 
course, why use batteries if you don't have to, so the battery driven 
unit is only for when you need fine temperature control or for less 
sunny climes.

You can download a short report presented on preliminary SOLUS 
testing at the past ISES conference from our website under 
publications (US) at

http://solar.nmsu.edu

There will also be a presentation by NASA on the technology at the 
upcoming ASES conference in Reno this summer (also where SunDanzer is 
based).

See the SunDanzer website for specs at

www.sundanzer.com

SunWize is the distributor for the U.S.

Hope this is helpful.


Robert Foster
SW Region Solar Experiment Station - NMSU


>One size, 118 Vac only for USA.
>
>>	From the Solar, Wind & Hydro Powered office of:
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>>
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>>
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>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Downing [mailto:solarman4 at yahoo.com]
>Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 12:03 PM
>To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>Subject: Re: Solus 8 cuft chest type freezer (12volt) [RE-wrenches]
>
>
>Does it run on 12 volts?
>What sizes are available?
>
>--- David Blittersdorf <davidb at nrgsystems.com> wrote:
>>  Look at the Vestfrost chest freezer from Denmark. I have one and it
>>  uses about 20 kwhrs/month. Nicely made.
>>
>>  David Blittersdorf
>>
>>
>>  On 25 Mar 2002 at 9:29, Mark Downing wrote:
>>
>>  > Does anyone have experience with the Solus freezers?
>>  >
>>  > The good points are that they are half the price of SunFrost and
>>  > available for immediate shipment.
>>  >
>>  > Does anyone know about the energy usage of these?
>>  > I'm curious if the 8 cuft volume is honest, or if they stretch the
>>  > truth like SunFrost.
>>  >
>>  > Mark, Hurshtown Alternative Power
>>  >
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>>
>>  David Blittersdorf
>>  NRG Systems, Inc.
>>  110 Commerce Street
>>  Hinesburg, VT 05461 USA
>>  Tel: 802-482-2255
>  > Fax: 802-482-2272
>>  email: davidb at nrgsystems.com
>>  Web:http://www.nrgsystems.com
>
>
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