Solar panel freezer

[TwoDo]

Just thought I would relate some preps I am undertaking which may be of interest to the group.

I live in the country, have some land, and am busy setting it up to produce a food supply. The big problem is storage. You get a glut all at once and then have to make it last. I know about canning, drying, root cellaring (which I also intend to build) but freezing is an undeniably useful thing.

I am installing some solar panels which I bought second hand quite cheaply on ebay. I will not have a grid tie connection. The goal is to have something that I can use to charge 12v batteries, then through an inverter to power a freezer which will be independent of the grid. Batteries, however, have a limited life (10 ish years or much less depending on how often and deeply you drain them) so long term and post SHTF replacement batteries will likely be a problem. I want to design the system to cope with that. Here's the plan...

Once the solar power setup is complete, I will experiment with a chest freezer containing large amounts of water in old milk jugs (50% by volume to start). Then I will get the solar cells to power the freezer during the day thus freezing the water and producing very large ice blocks. At night when there is no power I am hoping the ice blocks will act as thermal ballast and maintain the inside freezer temperature at a safe level - I will monitor this carefully. If it works, I will have grid independent freezing capability. Probably there will be too much temperature variation to make it safe for meat - however veggies are a lot less touchy. Post SHTF we will probably all be vegetarians (mostly) anyways.

[tigs]

look forward to reading your findings , but if you have enough pannels and batteries it should run the freezer 24/7

[Moony]

Batteries, however, have a limited life (10 ish years or much less depending on how often and deeply you drain them) so long term and post SHTF replacement batteries will likely be a problem. I want to design the system to cope with that. Here's the plan...

If worried about supply of batteries post SHTF / more than 10 years hence, you can order batteries 'dry' , store them for decades and then add the distilled water or battery acid (?) at a later date. This prevents them from deteriorating in the mean time, but it might be tricky to find a supplier. I read about this somewhere recently (on http://www.survivalblog.com/ I think), but can't find the post right now which had details that a complete novice like me can't provide. I'm sure googling the subject will bring up info if you fancy long term storage of batteries.

[TwoDo]

Batteries, however, have a limited life (10 ish years or much less depending on how often and deeply you drain them) so long term and post SHTF replacement batteries will likely be a problem. I want to design the system to cope with that. Here's the plan...

If worried about supply of batteries post SHTF / more than 10 years hence, you can order batteries 'dry' , store them for decades and then add the distilled water or battery acid (?) at a later date. This prevents them from deteriorating in the mean time, but it might be tricky to find a supplier. I read about this somewhere recently (on http://www.survivalblog.com/ I think), but can't find the post right now which had details that a complete novice like me can't provide. I'm sure googling the subject will bring up info if you fancy long term storage of batteries.

Now that's a good idea. Never thought of that. I will definitely look into this.

[Ian]

There is a growing breed of satellites, especially the cubesats, that don't carry any batteries at all as they are too unreliable.

They just run on solar panels directly and are mute when out of the sun. Exactly what you are attempting. It should work. Please let us know how it goes.