Solar powered fridges win $400,000 innovation award

U.S. based SunDanzer Refrigeration Inc. won the cash prizes for each of its two high-efficiency, off-grid refrigerators that work with R600a.

The Global LEAP awards Off-Grid Refrigerator Competition announced (on Jan, 29) that U.S. based SunDanzer Refrigeration Inc. has won cash prizes for each of its two fridges, which work with R600a, totaling $400,000. 

The competition– organised by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in conjunction with the Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP, the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Energy Access Initiative) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) - is aimed at increasing the availability of off-grid energy refrigeration solutions in developing countries. 

Access to electricity remains a big problem in developing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. 1.2 billion people, globally, currently live without adequate access to electricity, and another billion have less than four hours of reliable electricity each day.

The first prize went to SunDanzer’s small refrigerator – the DCR50 –  for its energy efficiency. The DCR50 requires just over 100 Watts to run for an entire day, substantially less than conventional refrigerator products, according to the USAID.

The second went for its large refrigerator model – the DCR165 – for its overall value

In addition to the two prizes winners announced, a third innovation prize will be awarded – for Appropriate Design and User Experience – following field testing in Uganda in early 2018. 

Other winners and finalists of the Global LEAP Awards Off-Grid Refrigerator Competition are listed here

Those listed are also eligible to participate in the Global LEAP Off-Grid Appliance Procurement Incentives programme, which is supported by Power Africa and Energising Development (EnDev), and aims to incentives appliance manufacturers and off-grid solar distributors so they can distribute large quantities of best-in-class off-grid refrigerators.

Background 

The Global LEAP Awards Off-Grid Refrigerator Competition is a partnership between Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),  Power Africa and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development’s (DfiD) Ideas to Impact Programme. This competition is part of Scaling Off-Grid Energy, the newest Grand Challenge for Development.

By Charlotte McLaughlin

Feb 28, 2018, 11:43




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