Looking at that product and it's energy listing, it seems to need an average of 36W (assuming my math is good: 318kWh/yr = 871Wh/day = 36Wh/hr).
So with a 12v battery (inverted to 110v) would draw 3 Amps (but find out the peak current draw - since that's what the inverter needs to be able to handle).
A typical normal sized battery holds between 50Ah and 80Ah, so that''s about 20 hours of on the battery.

You'd need a solar panel setup that generates probably three times that (ie 100W) as only 12 hours sunlight, and assume lower power at the start/end of the day. But it's always good to be able to generate more power than required, so you can have some lighting, run that music center, charge camera batteries. So buy what you can afford. Also the price per watt comes down as the panels get bigger.

So I did a simple Google search: www.google.com/products and it seems you'll have to pay somewhere between $600 and $900 for such a setup.

BUT... since your refrigerator will be fighting the hot desert, it might use more power, but it get an easier time at night, than at home.

That search also showed me wind power generators about the same price, that have the potential for generating much more power (eg 400w in 28mph wind), but the wind is sporadic out there.
Here's one I saw: store.sundancesolar.com/airxwitu.html but there are probably many places better/worse priced, and better/worse wind-power devices. I've not researched them much. I think I should.

Try this: tinyurl.com/6opm4h

Or do more searches under "propane refrigerator".

A propane fridge might work better ... I trust 12V recharged on solar to run our camp lights, but I'd not trust my food storage to it. And you'd still need 12V to run the controls apparently. Pricey buggers, I looked them up.
This site seemed to explain a few things:

www.rv-coach.com/current_c...etail.html

I am sure a fridge can be done, but I don't think it can be done cheaply.

Personally, I'd rather wrangle ice chests; we have it down to a fine art. Cast-iron tummies and a life in a semi-truck have prepared us to exist on camp food. MyLarry is a trucker, I have learned much about 12V appliances. Avoid thermal coolers like the plague.

If you end up using an ice chest, you can put dry ice on the bottom and then your food and put regular ice pack in gallon ziplocks on top of the food. The ice on top will melt but the dry ice will refreeze it. Make sure you have a separate ice chest cuz your food will be frozen too.

You should check out the Engel series of portable fridge / freezers:

www.i-m-d.com/engel/1products.htm

www.i-m-d.com/engel/1Tech.htm

I have the MT-45 and it uses 2.5A (12VDC) max and down to .7A (12VDC) if your on a low setting and its not super hot out. Make a nice reflective bubble wrap cover for it and it helps out too. They also switch automatically to 110VAC.

And yes, these will keep frozen things frozen and can be used as a freezer if you want to supply the higher power ratings (2.5A 12VDC)

I bought mine from these guys:

www.expeditionexchange.com/engel/

You will need a nice solar panel and battery but this is something you can use with you van, RV or when the big one hits :)

D

There's a cheap, no-power-needed solution to desert refrigeration, called the Zeer pot. Basically it consists of two nesting earthenware pots, with sand packed in the thin cavity between them. Water is poured into the sand and evaporative cooling keeps veggies or other food cool and fresh inside the smaller pot. It works best in dry, hot climates (sound familiar?), and only requires a water supply for operation.

www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/...on.htm

I've been wanting to get one of these out to the playa for years now, as it seems absolutely perfect. But I don't have access to a large kiln to make my own, and I can't find them for sale ANYWHERE in the US. I've also never seen them at the burn, which seems odd.

Of course while sufficient for vegetable freshness, the temperatures reached are probably not cold enough to produce an icy beer, and may not be cool enough for safe meat and dairy storage. But that's why I want to get my hands on one, to try it out and see.

Damn excellent advice, thanks to all! We tried the dry-ice technique for '08, with good results - we just had to make sure the ice chest lid was SECURELY closed... it helped to duct-tape it shut when we got the stuff out that we needed. The Engel fridge/freezer line looks attractive and convenient; I'll just have to really save up.

I'm so glad you some one else is working on this! My playa project for this year is a solar thermally driven propane fridge. I got the fridge for free on Craigslist (a lucky find because he thought it was broken, but $50-100 for one isnt uncommon), and I just ordered a 25' roll of aluminized mylar. My plan is to build a 1-2 m^2 parabolic trough concentrator, heating a closed-loop of either motor oil or corn gycol, flowing through a heat exchanger of copper pipe wrapped around the part of the fridge where the electrical heating element used to be.

The beauty of using solar thermal power and a propane fridge, rather than using solar PV power and a compressor, is that you can cut out the middle man of electricity all together. That removes the expense of batteries, panels, charge controllers, all of which are more expensive and fragile than anything on the playa should be (although that said I'll be bringing my 2x40 watt panels to run a pump and fan). That also means a HUGE jump in efficiency, because a PV panel converts solar radiation into electricity with about only 10-15 percent efficiency, plus losses storing that in the battery, and running an electric motor with it, whereas a solar thermal system simply concentrates thermal radiation.

The sun, supposedly provides an average theoretical equivalent of 1000 watts per meter squared. This is an average of course, but I can only assume that the playa in august is on the high end of that, if not above it. As far as I can find online, a propane fridge will draw 200-400 watts of heat continuously. Therefore I figure that with a 2m^2 panel, my panel would only need to be 20% efficient to power the fridge which shouldn't even be an issue considering my only losses will be insulation and reflectivity related, which is nothing compared to converting light into electricity. 2m^2 will hopefully be over kill.

But let me admit that is all my armchair theory. I'm in the process of building this rig as we speak, and have done a lot of research, but I'm not one of those people who thinks their technical prowess is infallible. Is anyone else doing something/has done something like this? Anyone have any ideas? Anyone want more info? What could be more satisfying than turning the mid-day playa heat into popsicles WITHOUT electricity? I love this stuff, and will keep you all posted on my findings.