SilaaCooling – Adaptive cooling with limited solar energy
How can food be stored under difficult climatic conditions when there is no reliable electricity supply? SilaaCooling investigated energy-self-sufficient cold storage for off-grid areas in the ASEAN region. Its application was climate-controlled storage of coffee beans for a cooperative in the mountains of Thailand.
Photovoltaics, battery storage, ventilation and cooling have to work together. Available energy changes with the weather, while temperature and humidity affect storage conditions. The project connected sensing, electronic components and control algorithms to account for these dependencies during operation.
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Machine-learning methods were intended to help select a suitable operating point. The research question concerns the balance between the desired indoor climate and limited energy: when can cooling run, what information do environmental sensors provide, and how can control be evaluated under changing conditions?
SilaaCooling illustrates how FILA research connects communication and data processing with decisions in a physical system. Related questions in sensing and distributed control appear in SmartLighting and the research area Networked systems and smart infrastructure.
Project and funding
Status: completed; funding period 2018–2022. Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), KMU-innovativ.
Institutional project description · Funding period and project context
