Solar Powered Medical Refrigerator

Project goal: To design improvements to the SunDanzer BFRV15 battery-free vaccine refrigerator that reduce production costs and address environmental concerns.Analysis included researching alternatives to the current phase change material, testing the input voltage, evaluating autonomy time and temperatures, analyzing heat transfer data, and performing analyses to understand the required battery size for the system to function properly with the longest lifetime. World Health Organization standards require the internal chamber temperature to remain between 0 and 8 degrees Celsius. No suitable phase change material that froze in the desired range was found. Water was chosen as the phase change material, but a way was needed to keep the chamber from dropping below 0 degrees Celsius. Insulation to form a physical barrier between ice and the vaccine chamber was incorporated, as was a battery-powered heater to heat the ice when the chamber reaches a specified minimum temperature. Testing and analysis proved the viability and cost effectiveness of the modified system.