Thermal performance characterization of a photovoltaic driven domestic refrigerator

This paper presents the cool-down, warm-up and steady state performance of a 100 W AC operated domestic refrigerator powered by a field of photovoltaic panels, a battery bank and an inverter. It is shown that there is no degradation in the performance when a non-sinusoidal waveform AC source is used to operate the refrigerator although it may involve only a slight additional heating of the hermetic compressor. Thermal mapping of the temperatures at various points on the refrigerator is provided for steady state, cool-down, warm-up, periodic opening of the door and ice making. An energy flow diagram is given for a steady state sunny day operation. Major sources of losses are identified.