10/19/2018 Solar Powered Autonomous Refrigerated Vending Cart

Solar Powered Autonomous Refrigerated

Vending Cart
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Recently an off-grid autonomous solar powered refrigerated vending cart (a thela) for Indian conditions have been
developed under the supervision of Prof. Sameer Khandekar in the Refrigeration & Air-conditioning Laboratory of
the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, as shown below:

Typical vendor’s cart in our country

Developed solar based refrigerated cart for street vendors

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Proposed model cart for street vendors

A fully functional prototype has been made for the efficient usage of solar energy and to reduce dependence on fossil
fuels by means of solar PV based energy self-sufficient smart cart with inbuilt DC compressor operated refrigeration
system for preserving perishable items, specifically for the street vendors. Some preliminary results are shown below
wherein the system is seen to operate at negative temperatures continuously completely on solar power.

Rate of heat extraction calculated as 25 W.

System operated uninterrupted off grid fully on solar power for one day in outside conditions and without load.

At present there is no provision available for the preservation of perishable items by means of refrigeration system
for street vendors, which results is spoilage of large quantities of eatables/fruits/vegetables. It also hampers the
business prospects and growth of street vendors. Remote areas in India also do not have cheap availability of solar
powered refrigeration systems. Irregular or no power supply in remote areas in India is a major challenge for storage
and distribution of perishable items including vaccines. The application of the prototype can be easily extended in
preservation of lifesaving vaccines and drugs, as per WHO guidelines, in remote areas having erratic power supply.

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The concept can also be extremely useful for military applications in far flung border districts/fronts where defence
personnel are deployed.

The cart is powered directly by the power received from a top mounted solar PV system without using any interface
like an inverter. Reviews clearly indicate that such stand-alone solar energy based refrigeration systems can be a boon
for our country. We have already developed the proof-of-concept prototype and as a next stage, translational research
and development is needed to come up with dedicated systems with standardized specifications, suitable for
particular sector of application. The integration of solar based energy producing system with street carts can
potentially produce surplus energy in future as the efficiency of photovoltaic panels is improving day by day. The
surplus energy thus generated can be used for other purposes like charging battery based electric vehicles, mobile
telephones, LED lighting, which will generate additional income for the vendors.

We would like to take this idea forward in a systematic way. Dedicated compressors, condensers, evaporators are
needed to be performance tested. The possibilities of hybridization of the prototype so as to provide uninterrupted
cooling effect for longer durations and development of strategies for performance optimization need to be carried out.
We also want to integrate smart systems, mobile telephone based controller, GPS monitoring, and smart cards on the
solar driven cart. User surveys need to be conducted so as to improve the functionality of the developed system. We
would also like to try out our concept with some potential vendors and entrepreneurs.

We seek financial support for conducting further translational research, as indicated above. The funding will be used
for hiring engineers/mechanics, buy consumables, conduct user surveys, develop and test improved prototypes, and
to modify the present designs as per user centric requirements.

For more details please visit: http://home.iitk.ac.in/~samkhan/Whatsnew.htm

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For more details in this regard, you may directly contact Prof. Sameer Khandekar at samkhan@iitk.ac.in

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The developed cart has been notably appreciated by media:

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