A major issue addressed - Solar Cooler @ ExplorOz

A major issue addressed - Solar Cooler

Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003 at 15:12

Matthew T

Hi,

Thanks to all of you who responded to my previous post, I am amazed at how many people visit this site. I do not want to flood this site with misguided posts (as a foreigner to the site), however, reading through and noting all of your suggestions prompts me to make this post, so that, based on a revised concept you can give me your opinions once more, if you have some spare time...

For those who hadn't read the previous post, the concept for a new product was as follows, but this time I would like to propose to you that a large solar panel (that can be folded in two - think of a notebook computer in terms of structure) can be "docked" into the lid of the cooler when it is 'folded' in half, and yet still connected, OR it can be disconnected from the lid, a power cord (say, 5-8 metres) can be connected from the now FOLDED OUT solar panel. The panel can then be placed in the sun while the cooler remains in the shade, or, for security, within the luggage compartment of your LandCruiser or Patrol, etc. Otherwise, the concept remains the same. Could you please give me your opinions and thoughts to the same questions as before, but with the new information? As Rhubarb noted, please treat this as a marketing exercise, not an engineering thinktank, but in any case I REALLY appreciate your support. Cheers.

NEW SOLAR COOLER

This is an exciting new innovation that involves a stand-alone cooler unit; an insulated, sealed container that incorporates a small evaporative cooling unit (powered by a solar panel) for maintaining the food or beverage contents at the desired temperature.
The inclusion of a LIGHTWEIGHT power storage device (battery) would allow the energy generated from the solar panel - located on the lid of the cooler - to be stored, so that the cooler may continue operating ON LOW POWER when there is no sunlight. There is capability for the unit to be powered (or battery to be charged) by EXTERNAL sources, such as DC (vehicle battery), or AC. Alongside the operating controls is a small digital LCD display showing temperature information.
The unit would come in two sizes, a high-end unit with 60-litre capacity, and with aluminium casing; and a low-end unit of 40-litre capacity, and with high-strength, lightweight plastic casing. The low-end unit would be priced somewhere between AUS$990 and $1190.

1. Do you think that this new product offers substantial benefits OVER A CONVENTIONAL COOLER (one that is not powered at all);

- Yes, substantial benefits /
- Yes, some benefits /
- No, not really /
- No, not at all

2. Do you think that this product offers substantial benefits OVER A PORTABLE REFRIGERATOR (such as those currently offered by Engel, etc) ?

- Yes, substantial benefits /
- Yes, some benefits /
- No, not really /
- No, not at all

3. If you were to go on a camping journey, would you find this new product useful for your needs?

- Yes, very useful /
- Yes, somewhat useful /
- No, not really useful /
- Not at all useful

4. Based on the price of the basic, low-end unit, do you think you would purchase this product?

- Yes, definitely /
- Yes, possibly /
- No, probably not /
- No, definitely not

5. Just say you WERE to purchase this product. How often do you think you would use it?

- More than once per week /
- About once per week /
- About twice per month /
- About once per month /
- About once per six months /
- About once a year /
- Less often.

6. Any other suggestions or comments?

Thanks heaps for your time, I greatly appreciate it, and it will be a HUGE help. Cheers.

AnswerID: 32501 Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003 at 16:20

Michelle from ExplorOz replied:

Hi Matthew,
I'm pleased that you've had lots of responses from our Forum and wonder if you might do something of benefit to us please. Could you please inform the Tourism Faculty (or whatever its called) at Sydney Uni about our website?

If a university was to do an independent report on our market penetration then I'm sure that we'd get the "official" recognition that we still can't seem to crack in this industry. We have 5 times the readership of magazines in this industry, blow away their websites stats by about 10 times and have far more information that is non-baised to which the public have free access.

What we need is for more businesses in the industry to allocate serious $ from their advertising campaigns to a campaign on ExplorOz.com It was always purpose-built to be the central repository for this industry and advertising campaigns have been structured into the original site development to be seamlessly merged with site content to provide a really useful resource to travellers and as an industry portal.

Please pass this onto the right person...ExplorOz

Reply 4 of 7

AnswerID: 32520 Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003 at 18:17

JohnH replied:

Matthew I don't think you are getting through to some of these folks. If it could be done then they would all answer yes because it would save each and every one of us hundreds of dollars on accessories and give us greater flexibility. The trouble is that it is a hypothetical question and it may require too much imagination. Imagine if you could bottle a fart and then convert it to energy to run your 4WD.... Get my drift. Hey maybe I'm onto something here... Folks please don'e shoot me down it;s just my dry sense of humour.

Reply 6 of 7

FollowupID: 23252 Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003 at 21:03

Willie posted:

John,
So instead of a Fuel Cell you could have Foul Cell ....hahahahahaha.......
Cheers,
Willie
Never a dull moment

FollowUp 1 of 2

FollowupID: 23280 Submitted: Thursday, Oct 02, 2003 at 08:49

GaryInOz (Vic) posted:

...and the evaporative cooler would be "blow" assisted while you are at it??? (Don't blame me!!!...Sick and twisted sense of humour after a night shift!).

FollowUp 2 of 2