Sunlight with cool factor

ScienceDaily (May 6, 2010)-Although it sounds like a contradiction in terms, with the power of the Sun for refrigeration is an original energy concept. Fraunhofer researchers use solar energy in Tunisia and Morocco perishable foods like milk to keep fresh wine and fruit.

"Cooled by sunlight"-we could a Ecostatement as follows to see printed on food packaging in the coming years. Solar energy is already to power air-conditioning systems in buildings used, but now researchers also fruit and other perishable foods that want to do with the energy from the Sun in the refrigerator. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for solar energy systems ISE in Freiburg demonstrate that this is a winery in Tunisia in the Mediterranean region, the examples and one dairy in Morocco.Were in the MEDISCO project (short for Mediterranean food and agro industry applications solar cooling technologies) solar systems for Kühl-, milk and wine in collaboration with universities, energy agencies and European companies only.the project of the European Commission financed by the Polytechnic University of Milan run.

Our method "is suitable especially for countries with many days of sunshine and in remote areas where no lack of water and not existent or unreliable Energiequellen.Es conventional means of refrigeration is environmentally friendly and reduces the use of expensive electricity for conventional refrigerators to a minimum", explains Dr. Tomas Nu?ez, scientists at ISE, listing the system advantages. "Cooling is always available when the Sun is shining, which means that it is generated at times when demand is highest."

Scientists have installed concentrating collectors to head the sunlight onto an absorber of a reflector. This makes it possible to convert the solar radiation in hot water with a temperature of 200 degrees."This extreme water temperature is machine for the external temperatures prevailing to drive there required absorption cooling."We use no electricity to provide cooling, we use heat.The result is the same in both cases: refrigeration in form of cold water oder-- in our case - a water-glycol mixture, "explains N??ez. how the absorption cooling machine produced temperatures of 0 degrees, the experts use the mix, to water from freezing to verhindern.Die water glycol solution is collected in cold accumulators and pumped through a heat exchanger, which cools the milk."We a slightly different system for wine with the refrigerant flows through winding tubes in the tanks, N??ez says.

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