Is it a good idea to use a solar battery powered fan for a cooler ?

[Nathan Torres]

I'm a student making a IED project for my school year and me/my group want to know if it's a good idea to use a solar powered battery for our cooler; the battery is used to power a fan that will cool down what ever is inside the cooler.

We have designed the cooler and have already ordered the parts for it and i just wanted to know if it's a bad idea or a good one; I'm only a junior including my group.


Nearly forgot to mention that the battery is going to be located on top of the cooler; our cooler design has resemblance to an actual chest, given that design we can put into the cooler we can separate the battery from the food or drinks while it's also charging from the sun.

The battery powered fan going to be in the cooler to circulate air in order to keep the ice from melting; if there's anything wrong with the design please tell me!

 

[IRstuff]

Thanks for moving your post. But, again, a fan does not cool; it simply moves air into your container. And unless the outside air is significantly cooler than the inside, you'll not have any actual cooling. You need an active heat exchanger

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[Nathan Torres]

My group will consider removing the fan/battery and think of a better alternative for our cooler; we are currently finding good insolation materials for our project however we don't know where to start.

 

[IRstuff]

You're apparently in the US, so I'm not sure why you wouldn't run to the nearest Walmart and see what cheap coolers are made of. That part of the problem should be a no-brainer.

Then, it's just a matter of deciding how thick the insulation needs to be. You could get fancy insulation like VIP, or Thermos-style, but those are orders of magnitude more expensive.

Then, if you need something to stay cool indefinitely, again, run down to Walmart and see the actively cooled coolers, which typically contain a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and a cooling fan to remove the heat from the TEC. Beyond that would be an actual refrigeration unit, like those mini-refrigerators found in dorm/hotel rooms, and in some people's family rooms which might have a similar thing, like a mini wine cooler. But, those consume considerably more power and are considerably more complex and more expensive (somewhat).

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[zeusfaber]

You have two choices when it comes to cooling.

One is to actively pump heat out of your insulated container. This is what a fridge does (search terms: Absorption Cycle, Compressor refrigeration, Peltier cooler)

The alternative is to put a prechilled heat sink (choose something with a large heat capacity)inside your insulated container. This is how a picnic box works. For a design like this, including a small fan to circulate the air in the box so it comes in contact with the heatsink might be useful.

Edit: Post overlapped with IRStuff's)

A.