posted 2 years ago
I was donated chiller panels - about 25m2 worth. 100mm xps panels.
We're starting a market garden. I have looked into building a proper chiller out of them but:
- they are about 50% of the insulation required for running something like a coolbot
- we don't have power (and don't anticipate having the necessary money to build a full solar set up for a while)
- I have investigated the costs of doing so, doubling the insulation up, and I wouldn't save much/any money vs buying a second hand unit, which will likely be built and designed better than I could anyway.
It won't be super ideal, but I was thinking of building an insulated room that could be placed in a shady spot for medium term storage of things like Pumpkins, Onions and Potatoes. As well as a seed storage room. However these veges that don't require the usual 0-4c storage range all have different ideal temperature ranges and humidity ranges (seeds want drier than veges, onions want cooler than pumpkins..).
I figure it wouldn't be too expensive to have a small solar powered ventilation unit.
Is it a waste of time? Or will I still have a useful-if-not-ideal storage space?
And if not, how would you go about it? Would you have other creative uses for the panels?