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Abstract

A computerised method (300) for determining the optimum battery capacity (50) and/or solar panel capacity (16) for configuring an electric refrigeration unit (10) is provided together with related methods and apparatus. The electrical refrigeration unit is of a type configured to draw power from rechargeable batteries and solar panels in cooling 0 the interior of a mobile enclosure. Input data is received relating to the location in which the refrigeration unit is to be deployed (302), historical weather data for the location (306) and a desired delivery cycle (308) for the refrigeration unit. The thermal performance of the enclosure (320) is simulated in a model based on its thermal properties (312) wherein the model outputs the energy requirements for cooling the enclosure to the set point temperature of the delivery cycle for a particular historical day. The energy requirements for delivery cycles are iteratively simulated (320) on plural historical days and an amount of energy that must be supplied from the batteries to meet the energy requirements is determined (322). The battery capacity and/or solar panel capacity for storing sufficient energy to meet the energy requirements for

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First Claim