Solar Food Box

Solar Food Box is a concept created by Teodora Yordanova and Kristian Terziev. The idea earned "Genius design for a better everyday" from BRAUN PRICE international competition for product design.  It is still in product development phase, but I would like to applaud this product and its creators' vision.

Solar Food Box is a good product idea. The concept is well executed only with few points of improvement. It is a small portable shoulder bag where you can store foodstuff and drinks in refrigerated compartments or in heated compartments. Offering warm meals is a property that makes this product different from typical picnic/barbecue refrigerators. It is an excellent and trendy lunch box for adults and for kids.
Solar power is another nice touch as a green and free power source.

I worked with food industry and I am familiar with consumer perspective on food related products. The most important attribute for the consumers is hygiene when food is involved. By far the most important attribute perceived by consumers... Therefore I would be more concerned about how hygienic to transport foodstuff in warm environment for prolonged time. However there is a simple solution to this: The product use cycle can be introduced. For example, Refrigerate, Warm-up and Recharge. (1) Refrigerate: Meals and drinks can be carried refrigerated, (2) Warm-up: Drinks can be taken out of the box and meals can be warmed up, (3) The box can be left under sunlight for recharging after the meal is gone or leftovers are being refrigerated again. Such product use cycle saves power although it restricts the ease of use and simplicity. But because hygiene is an obligatory attribute, it is a must to satisfy it.

Solar Food Box offers portable individual food transport and warm meal opportunity to the consumer. Thus, it has to be small in size but sufficient for two people's one-meal consumption at maximum. It is important it should be light-weight for comfort. Heaviest component will be the rechargeable battery and refrigeration/heating panel (There are light weight non-conventional systems that can offer both refrigeration and heating when the electric current is reversed). The product use cycle (duration of each phase), box size and material of construction must be carefully optimized for a comfortable product weight.

Solar power is still perceived as somehow negative in individual products because of "weather dependency". It had some truth about it. But things are changing, it is now possible to solar charge whenever possible and automatically. (check out StrongVolt SmartCharger) For more flexibility over the product use cycle, multiple batteries synced can be used to perform refrigeration and recharging tasks simultaneously. This shall increase control board weight but it can be a useful property.

Solar Food Box is not a complete and not on the markets yet. Designers  Teodora Yordanova and Kristian Terziev hold the exclusive copyrights for the design. But according to my analysis it is very achievable and plausible to produce the Solar Food Box. It will be a bit expensive but a good manufacturing strategy can solve the price concerns.

I wish best of luck to the designers and hope to see Solar Food Box on the markets in the near future.