Just spent one month traveling around Namibia. It's an incredible country and really well set up for 4*4 camping. The landscapes are huge, sunsets are amazing, it's cheap, friendly and just so photogenic. HMU if you want more info.
this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2025
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were you able to see wild welwistchia plants.
Yes I was, near Swakopmund, they are also the national plant of Namibia
“4x4”
=16
“5x5”
What? No parasol over the table?
This rest stop sucks.
Or the fridge?? How hard is that heat pump working
I mean, that thing is working so hard it turned the entire surrounding countryside into desert!
Yeah, put the fridge in the shade of a solar panel. I don't believe it would work well otherwise
The pink fridge is a shell with a fridge inside it.
The fridge is inside an insulated box that blocks the sun.
I don’t believe it would work well otherwise
What a weird comment to say about a device that's actually working well.
What the fuck is a parasol?
Edit: I looked it up and now I understand. Does the word happen to come from Spanish? Parasol would mean “for the sun” much like other words like parabrisas.
Where are you from that you don't know what a parasol is?
Yes, but "para" also means "stop". Comes from "parar", "to stop". In this case it would mean something like "sun stopper". Or in your example, "breeze stopper".
Oh wow, I feel like a moron now. I never could figure out why it would be “for wind.”
Haha nah you're alright. Every day we learn something new! Also another one, "umbrella" is "paraguas" (waters stopper) :)
Or parapluie (rain stopper)
Nope that's French, I think, my French est terrible, but definitely not Spanish.
Yup I didn't take intend it to be a Spanish example btw, just to show that the para prefix works in other languages too.
Paradise → 🛑🎲
Paradox → 🛑📄
So how many panels does it take to power your average kitchen fridge? I estimate that a single modern rooftop-style panel could pull it off. Is there a battery being used in this setup? I suppose you wouldn't need one if you're only storing drinks that don't need to be kept at a safe temperature 24/7. Regardless, I wish the article would have asked these questions.
A single 72 cell panel and a recent DC driven solar direct drive compressor. With older technology it takes about 4 12V panels to start the compressor running SDD without batteries. I’m product manager for SDD driven DC compressors used in WHO off-grid fridges and could elaborate quite a while if you’re interested further.
Not to be "that lemming", but, please do. Super interesting.
Is “a panel” a standard size/unit? (Genuinely asking, I assumed there are lots of different sizes but a standard would totally make sense from a cost savings perspective.)
As far as your question, the main challenge would be the required battery because the startup load of a compressor is waaaay higher than the operating load. A single refrigerator barely uses much power once it’s going.
Given the semi-arid landscape, I'm betting it's cold at night, no need to run the fridge.
Not a lot. Maximum power a fridge would draw is around 150W and it will work for about 8 hours per day so 1.2 kW. A 1 m² panel should provide enough power and energy, even with conversion losses. You'd need a battery though.
My kitchen fridge is relatively new, uses ~1.25 kWh/day, typically draws ~100W when running and never really goes over 200W
My garage fridge is older and cheaper and uses about the same amount of energy, but power occasionally spikes >1kW
With batteries, both could be powered with just ~200 W worth of panels. Without batteries, you may want a little more power or a descent capacitor to make sure you can handle the start-up loads.
Given it's out in direct sunlight all day, you may need an extra 200W or so to offset the solar hear gain.
A typical rooftop panel is ~300-400W, so 1 would probably do it.
Probably like 3
TLDR for me?
Imagine stumbling upon a fully operational pink refrigerator, stocked with cold beverages, nestled incongruously in the heart of this arid wilderness. It's not a hallucination or a mirage—it's a deliberate and whimsical creation by the Namibia Tourism Board, designed to surprise and delight weary adventurers.
Those two sentences pretty much cover it.
Why can't the world have more of this and less of... everything else that's going on right now? 😕
I don't really have a point, it's just sad that humans have the capacity to do such cool, fun, creative things, and instead we're burning the world down so computers can churn out garbage and blowing each other up because we're different from each other.
Because people with whimsy are always poor.
I just saw an amazing concert at a venue built and paid for by the local government of a nearby town. You can only get tickets through the venue (no Ticketmaster), parking is free, prices are reasonable and it is an absolutely beautiful venue that artists want to perform in.
This is in a very red state (and very red town) in the US. There's still some good stuff out there if you look away from the horror show that's our federal government.
Why can't the world have more of this and less of... everything else that's going on right now?
Because if it doesn’t generate shareholder value, corps are not interested.
Green power drives shareholder value, and most places where fossil fuel wins economically it is largely due to government subsidies
If there was no shareholder value in green power, we wouldn't have any substantial green power. Yet the rise in green power over the last few years is absolutely mind boggling (and very under reported)
Be the change you want to see in the world! Even if it's something small you could help things be better.
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TLDR: Theres a solar powered pink refredgerator in the Nambian Desert.
Cold drinks await
The government put the fridge there to attract tourists.
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Feeling serious Stephen King vibes... careful with opening that door!
I wonder how often they have to restock it?
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