old fridge design brought back to life

A few years ago, when I witnessed the effects of Eskom's budget-sapping rollout of the national electricity grid to rural Transkei, I wondered how people who rely on a largely subsistence economy could possibly afford to buy, operate and maintain the electrical appliances that they could now run on 220 volts of coal-generated power. Most rural families probably have one or more family members working in cities, sending money back home, which helps pay the bills; but is that really a sustainable approach to community development?

I have written before about alternative financing models for supplying renewable energy to make rural life more convenient, and here is another technology that could help significantly: a fridge design that was invented by Albert Einstein in 1930. The original design was abandoned when freon and cheap power made it possible to sell fridges that operated with more efficient compressors. But the compressor is what makes it difficult to run a modern fridge using solar power, so the Einstein fridge is being dusted off and improved so that its zero-moving-parts design can be powered with solar panels. In addition to reducing reliance on dirty power, this approach also reduces maintenance needs, so it's perfect for rural communities.

Of course there are more primitive systems, like evaporative fridges, but let's face reality: a huge challenge in stemming the tide of human desire for electrically-powered appliances in the developing world is in coming up with designs that don't make people feel like they are being handed second-rate goods. This sounds like one that could work.