Our team is designing a portable cooling solution that preserves temperature-sensitive medicine without relying on grid power. Natural disasters such as hurricanes devastate the world every year and can disable power for weeks at a time. These power outages leave survivors desperate for food and shelter without access to certain critically needed medications. The lack of proper cooling for insulin after these storms causes hundreds of otherwise preventable deaths. People whose entire livelihoods are at risk should not be in fear of losing their lives as well. Our design consists of a 5-quart cooler with a thermoelectric cold plate powered by two batteries and a solar panel. The storage space will hold three insulin pens at once; the average prescription a user will have available at one time. The cold plate will keep the temperature between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (35 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit). If insulin reaches 0 degrees Celsius it will freeze. If it goes above 8 degrees Celsius it can expire. The supported temperature range can preserve other supplies, such as vaccines or eyedrops for glaucoma. The solar panel will supply consistent energy to recharge the batteries during the operation of the device. Employing two batteries allows the user to stagger power draw by alternating the source. While one battery is powering the cold plate, the solar panel is recharging the second battery. This setup will provide 14 days of cooling, average time for power restoration in the United States. This product can save countless lives. It will protect their medicine when nothing else can and provide invaluable relief to those who need it most.
This image is the final model of our prototype. The device consists of several 3D printed storage compartments to hold the batteries, electrical equipment, and solar panel. The solar panel storage compartment is not shown in this image (refer to "Progress & Future work). Also shown is the thermoelectric cooling (TEC) module with the heat sink and fan attached.