TIL there's a solar powered pink refrigerator in the Namib Desert

a year ago by Quilotoa to c/til

Powered by solar energy, the pink fridge acts as a beacon of hospitality, offering a refreshing... READMORE
Kolanaki 91 points a year ago

What? No parasol over the table?

This rest stop sucks.

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ryannathans 34 points a year ago

Or the fridge?? How hard is that heat pump working

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SARGE 42 points a year ago

I mean, that thing is working so hard it turned the entire surrounding countryside into desert!

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Xerxos 6 points a year ago

Yeah, put the fridge in the shade of a solar panel. I don't believe it would work well otherwise

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elbarto777 5 points a year ago
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Xerxos 1 point a year ago

It's working. Is it working well? We don't know.

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prettybunnys 0 points a year ago

The pink fridge is a shell with a fridge inside it.

The fridge is inside an insulated box that blocks the sun.

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undefined 5 points a year ago

What the fuck is a parasol?

Edit: I looked it up and now I understand. Does the word happen to come from Spanish? Parasol would mean “for the sun” much like other words like parabrisas.

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Thadden 27 points a year ago

Yes, but "para" also means "stop". Comes from "parar", "to stop". In this case it would mean something like "sun stopper". Or in your example, "breeze stopper".

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undefined 10 points a year ago

Oh wow, I feel like a moron now. I never could figure out why it would be “for wind.”

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Thadden 12 points a year ago

Haha nah you're alright. Every day we learn something new! Also another one, "umbrella" is "paraguas" (waters stopper) :)

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starlinguk 6 points a year ago

Where are you from that you don't know what a parasol is?

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mrmule 57 points a year ago

Just spent one month traveling around Namibia. It's an incredible country and really well set up for 4*4 camping. The landscapes are huge, sunsets are amazing, it's cheap, friendly and just so photogenic. HMU if you want more info.

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Ledericas 11 points a year ago

were you able to see wild welwistchia plants.

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mrmule 9 points a year ago

Yes I was, near Swakopmund, they are also the national plant of Namibia

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Brkdncr 5 points a year ago

“4x4”

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__nobodynowhere 20 points a year ago

=16

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shplane 1 point a year ago

“5x5”

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jagged_circle -4 points a year ago

4*4 camping

That's a contradiction

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shalafi 5 points a year ago

Who says you have to hike to your destination?

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toynbee 8 points a year ago

Until I read your comment, I thought maybe you were supposed to camp in a tent that was 4" square. I was surprised there was a category for that or that anyone would find it contentious, other than for being inadequate.

Your comment made it all make sense, so thank you.

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jagged_circle -4 points a year ago

Campers do.

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shplane 2 points a year ago

How very ableist of you.

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Blumpkinhead 1 point a year ago

Why?

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Postmortal_Pop 29 points a year ago

TLDR for me?

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Deebster 111 points a year ago

Imagine stumbling upon a fully operational pink refrigerator, stocked with cold beverages, nestled incongruously in the heart of this arid wilderness. It's not a hallucination or a mirage—it's a deliberate and whimsical creation by the Namibia Tourism Board, designed to surprise and delight weary adventurers.

Those two sentences pretty much cover it.

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jonathan7luke 51 points a year ago

Why can't the world have more of this and less of... everything else that's going on right now? 😕

I don't really have a point, it's just sad that humans have the capacity to do such cool, fun, creative things, and instead we're burning the world down so computers can churn out garbage and blowing each other up because we're different from each other.

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667 23 points a year ago

Why can't the world have more of this and less of... everything else that's going on right now?

Because if it doesn’t generate shareholder value, corps are not interested.

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ryannathans 3 points a year ago

Green power drives shareholder value, and most places where fossil fuel wins economically it is largely due to government subsidies

If there was no shareholder value in green power, we wouldn't have any substantial green power. Yet the rise in green power over the last few years is absolutely mind boggling (and very under reported)

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Postmortal_Pop 11 points a year ago

Because people with whimsy are always poor.

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Bob_Robertson_IX 11 points a year ago

I just saw an amazing concert at a venue built and paid for by the local government of a nearby town. You can only get tickets through the venue (no Ticketmaster), parking is free, prices are reasonable and it is an absolutely beautiful venue that artists want to perform in.

This is in a very red state (and very red town) in the US. There's still some good stuff out there if you look away from the horror show that's our federal government.

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otterpop 4 points a year ago

Be the change you want to see in the world! Even if it's something small you could help things be better.

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ryannathans 2 points a year ago

Very doomer mindset. You're not going to see the fantastic things you seek in the media very often, doom and rage drives engagement. Cool, creative and green things are all around us. Change what you consume, change your mindset, and you will see

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Lost_My_Mind 15 points a year ago

TLDR: Theres a solar powered pink refredgerator in the Nambian Desert.

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limer 10 points a year ago

Cold drinks await

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Quilotoa 7 points a year ago

The government put the fridge there to attract tourists.

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Ghostalmedia 1 point a year ago

Ye

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Psythik 19 points a year ago

So how many panels does it take to power your average kitchen fridge? I estimate that a single modern rooftop-style panel could pull it off. Is there a battery being used in this setup? I suppose you wouldn't need one if you're only storing drinks that don't need to be kept at a safe temperature 24/7. Regardless, I wish the article would have asked these questions.

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RvTV95XBeo 8 points a year ago

My kitchen fridge is relatively new, uses ~1.25 kWh/day, typically draws ~100W when running and never really goes over 200W

My garage fridge is older and cheaper and uses about the same amount of energy, but power occasionally spikes >1kW

With batteries, both could be powered with just ~200 W worth of panels. Without batteries, you may want a little more power or a descent capacitor to make sure you can handle the start-up loads.

Given it's out in direct sunlight all day, you may need an extra 200W or so to offset the solar hear gain.

A typical rooftop panel is ~300-400W, so 1 would probably do it.

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PieMePlenty 8 points a year ago

Not a lot. Maximum power a fridge would draw is around 150W and it will work for about 8 hours per day so 1.2 kW. A 1 m² panel should provide enough power and energy, even with conversion losses. You'd need a battery though.

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marci 7 points a year ago

A single 72 cell panel and a recent DC driven solar direct drive compressor. With older technology it takes about 4 12V panels to start the compressor running SDD without batteries. I’m product manager for SDD driven DC compressors used in WHO off-grid fridges and could elaborate quite a while if you’re interested further.

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01189998819991197253 3 points a year ago

Not to be "that lemming", but, please do. Super interesting.

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Jimmycakes 2 points a year ago

Probably like 3

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shalafi 2 points a year ago

Given the semi-arid landscape, I'm betting it's cold at night, no need to run the fridge.

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ayyy 1 point a year ago

Is “a panel” a standard size/unit? (Genuinely asking, I assumed there are lots of different sizes but a standard would totally make sense from a cost savings perspective.)

As far as your question, the main challenge would be the required battery because the startup load of a compressor is waaaay higher than the operating load. A single refrigerator barely uses much power once it’s going.

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aramis87 8 points a year ago

I wonder how often they have to restock it?

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Zwuzelmaus 8 points a year ago

Feeling serious Stephen King vibes... careful with opening that door!

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Eyedust 3 points a year ago

Man, I could go for a refreshing... READMORE right now.

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aeronmelon 1 point a year ago

This is one of those things where I learn something random and then wonder what I’m suppose to do with that information.

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Quilotoa 1 point a year ago

Write an encyclopedia of useless knowledge?

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ILoveDurians -1 points a year ago

Cursed

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