Solar Fridge

The Daily Mail's illustration describes it as having a "gap between the inner and outer layer that is filled
with sand, wool or soil, that can be soaked with water." they continue and say that "the sun's rays heat this
wet material and the water evaporates off."

Right. Putting it in the sun increases evaporation, cooling the interior? I suspect not, but evaporative
cooling can be used to make an effective and cheap cooling system for Africa, like Mohammed Bah Abba
did ten years ago.

[Take] two pots, one inside another. Fill the space between the two with moist sand, and you have a most
ingenious fridge. (That’s very modern if you live in one of the 90% of villages that don’t have electricity.)
The water in the sand naturally migrates towards the outer pot, where it evaporates causing a temperature
drop around the inner pot.

In Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, ITDGPractical Action and the Women’s Association for
Earthenware Manufacturing have been experimenting with a traditional storage container called a zeer,
invented by a teacher called Mohammed Bah Abba.

A lidded earthenware pot is fitted inside a larger pot with an insulating layer of sand in between. This sand
layer can be kept cool by adding water regularly, thus providing a refrigerated storage space at minimal
cost.
The results of these trials were amazing. Carrots, tomatoes and okra could now be kept in good condition
for nearly twenty days, whereas previously they would have been unsaleable after two or three.

While evaporative cooling has been around for millenia, according to Rolex:

The city of Qena in Upper Egypt is renowned for its porous-clay cooling vessels – a tradition spanning
more than three millennia. In Burkina Faso, the Jula people’s traditional jars are sometimes soaked in
water before goods are stored in them, so that they stay cool by evaporation. This single-pot design is
similar to the pot-in-pot, but less efficient.

The double wall system is a dramatic improvement. In most of the versions we have seen, the porosity of
the clay is an important component; Emily has made her version of a non-porous metal. Perhaps there is
something about it that I am missing, that lets it work better in the sun than in the shade.

Coolgardie Safe

But every swamp cooler and fridge I ever heard of right back to the Australian Coolgardie Safe worked
better in the shade and relied on moving air to increase evaporation rather than sitting in the sun.