23 yr old Invents Solar Fridge

Proving once again that the best ideas are often the simplest, 23-year-old student/inventor/entrepreneur Emily Cummins has designed a brilliant portable solar-powered refrigerator that works based upon the principle of evaporation. Employing a combination of conduction and convection, the refrigerator requires no electricity and can be made from commonly available materials like cardboard, sand, and recycled metal.

Simply place perishable foods or temperature-sensitive medications in the solar refrigerator’s interior metal chamber and seal it. In-between the inner and outer chamber, organic material like sand, wool or soil is then saturated with water. As the sun warms the organic material, water evaporates, reducing the temperature of the inner chamber to a cool, 6 ºC [43 ºF] for days at a time!

After winning £5,000 from York Merchant Adventurers for her idea, Emily delayed going to college for a year to take her refrigerator to Africa for further development. She made six versions during the initial phase of production and helped make more than 50 during the trip where locals in Namibia nicknamed her “The Fridge Lady“. The refrigerator has since rolled out in Zambia, Namibia and South Africa and Emily believes thousands more may be in use as the design passes from community to community through word-of-mouth.

Emily explained: “I set about looking at how I could make a sustainable version after asking people what luxury they couldn’t live without and one of the answers that kept coming up was ‘fridge’…I wanted to keep it really simple and so I set about researching how we cooled things years ago. The simplest method of cooling something could be seen when you look at how we cool biologically—through sweating or evaporation. That idea led me to the design and the fridge was born.”

More awards followed as Emily became the only female - and the only  European - to be honoured by Nobel Prize winners in an international ceremony.


Emily says. “I’m not interested in making a bigger TV or greater sound system. I want to create change for the better.” Well said. We know we’ll hear much more from Emily in the future.

'Recognition for my work in Norway and Japan is a great honour. I'm passionate about encouraging young people to reach their creative potential, especially in the field of sustainable design.

'Hopefully these awards will inspire other young people to think about how they can contribute to our global community in a positive way.'

Emily Website

Source Articles
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/12/solar-powered-fridge-by-emily-cummins/  
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1323646/UK-female-student-awarded-prize-Nobel-winners-solar-powered-fridge-invention.html#ixzz15q5qMpL0