A Solar Refrigerator for Developing World

$12,000 for a refrigerator seems to be a bit pricey for the target market of the "emerging nations". Yes it can generate electricity too (6 light bulbs worth) and it is meant for the whole village or at least couple of farmers but still that seems like a lot. I do agree that refrigeration can be more important than electricity but he's got to be kidding when he said "One reason the Northern Hemisphere (in my mind) moved ahead of the Southern Hemisphere is that the people there had to only figure out heating, a relatively straightforward process, rather than cooling. (I came up with that idea one day in Malaysia after walking into an air-conditioned Burger King after four hours in the midday sun.)". Last thing I knew how hot it gets has more to do with how close you are to the equator and not whether you are north or south of it.

Speaking of Albert Einstein, try absorption refrigeration. Already been done, much cheaper. See Solargenix, for one.