We have been awarded the Global Leap Award for being the world’s best solar-powered cooling solution. The technology has been widely used in Kenya and other African countries, providing small-scale farmers with an efficient and reliable solar-powered cold room.
The Off-Grid Cold Chain Challenge, sponsored by the World Bank and the IKEA Foundation, tested solar-powered cold rooms around the world and named SelfChill as the test winner. The technology operates cooling solutions with solar energy, helping to address the problem of up to 40% of agricultural produce spoiling due to a lack of refrigeration.
The SelfChill technology is based on high-quality energy-efficient core components, and it can be used in a modular way to build different systems, from small refrigerators to large milk cooling tanks and cooling containers. The technology is highly environmentally friendly and energy efficient through the use of thermal ice storage and natural refrigerants.
Victor Toledo, founder of Solar Cooling Engineering, said, “What makes our approach special, besides being environmentally friendly, is its modularity. We ship only the core components, which saves on transportation costs and emissions. Our local partners then buy additional construction materials locally and can build cooling systems locally according to their customers’ needs.”
The SelfChill partners have so far set up 25 cooling systems in six African countries, bringing enormous benefits to local farmers. The technology has not only been accepted by users but has also been recognized as best-in-class by an independent testing institute.
The cold room in Thika showed the best and most reliable performance in the competition and was named Top Winner of the Global Leap Award. “It is a special award for us” explains Martini, Phaesun’s engineer. “It shows that the technology has not only been accepted by the user, but has also been recognized as best-in-class by an independent testing institute! We are putting the prize money into the further development of our technology!”
