Mobile Solar Walk-in Cooler

Designed by Ridge to Reefs, Inc. In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, severely impacting the islands’ power supply and food security. Almost all power was lost across Puerto Rico. In many rural areas power was lost for 6-12 months and farmers’ fields were completely cleared of crops by high winds, rainfall and flooding. When farmers were ready to replant, there was a shortage of seeds and fertilizer. The only seed producer on the entire island lost almost their entire supply due to lack of refrigeration, caused by the extended power outage. Meanwhile, shelves were empty at stores due to close to 90% of food being imported and food spoiling during the power outage.

In response to this local and global challenge, Ridge to Reefs designed a Mobile Solar Farm Fridge for mobile applications to help farms reduce post-harvest losses, and bring high-quality produce and refrigerated farm goods to market. Our mobile, solar-powered system utilizes a battery storage system that provides multiple days of backup energy from its roof-collector solar cells. We have helped install five static systems in Puerto Rico including at the only organic seed producer’s farm and have recently completed and tested the mobile unit prototype.

The Mobile Solar Walk-in Cooler is a low-cost mobile food storage unit constructed with a 6’x16’ enclosed trailer. CoolBot technology is paired with an air conditioning unit, inverter, batteries and a charge controller to maintain temperatures between 35-55°F per the farmer’s needs. Roof-mounted solar panels provide 1.65 kW of power with 210 amp hours of battery storage, reducing the risk of crop loss in the event of a power outage. The trailer walls and floor are fully insulated, making the trailer heat resistant even in the tropics. The trailer provides roughly 275 cubic feet of mobile food storage.