Solar powered cooler/freezer

[Rohan]

Anyone used a product like these? How well did they work?

For most people I know, powering the fridge is the #1 reason to have solar panels on a boat. So why not cut out the middleman and be more efficient with solar power directly on your cooler? Makes sense to me. Some of these even have freezers. Here are a couple examples:

https://www.acopower.com/products/hy-x50a

https://odditymall.com/solar-powered-cooler-fridge

[a64pilot]

Great idea, if the sun always shone, but it doesn’t. So what do you do when it’s not up or it’s raining or overcast etc?

Besides both of your examples require external panels, so what’s the difference?

Then finally, what makes you think they are more efficient? My Cool Blue cold plate system cools and freezes ten times the volume of my Engle, and uses only about 50% more power, so it’s much more efficient, portables can’t be very efficient, because they can’t be well insulated, if they were they would be twice as big and hold half as much, and no one would buy them.

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Great idea, if the sun always shone, but it doesn’t. So what do you do when it’s not up or it’s raining or overcast etc?

Well they are insulated like regular coolers are, with a battery to run them when there is no sun out.

Then finally, what makes you think they are more efficient?

With solar going directly to the unit instead of passing through other wiring, it's possible they are more efficient with their charging, plus easier to move the panels to optimally catch the sun. But their insulation is limited so I really don't know, that's why I was asking.

[two-rocks]

Seems like a solution looking for a problem.

It’s semantics on how it’s powered or how the energy is used. Compressor based cooling takes energy, seems simpler to use the power storage already in place.