THE MILKPOD – ELDORET, KENYA

The MilkPod is a self contained bulk milk chiller designed for use by large dairy farmers in remote villages where electricity is either unreliable or unavailable. In order for rural farmers to sell their milk to the larger regional dairies, the milk must be chilled to 38 deg F within 4 hours of milking and stored at that temperature until it can be transported to the dairy. Without electricity, that’s impossible in rural areas.

The MilkPod requires no grid power or generator and can chill and store 500-2000 liters of milk on solar power alone. The MilkPod opens up new sources of milk supply for the large dairies, gives rural farmers new markets for the milk and helps bring economic development to the region.

  • The MilkPod is a complete milk collection and chilling station including the milk receiving and testing section, rapid milk chilling section and milk storage section. The major advantages of the MilkPod are:
  • Designed to operate completely independent of grid power or diesel generator but can take advantage of grid power if available
  • Aligns thermal storage production (ice) with energy production (solar) to make ice while the sun shines
  • Running the chiller compressor only when the sun shines drastically reduces the required number of batteries and extends life of remaining batteries to over 10 years
  • Cost competitive with diesel and grid/diesel alternatives
  • High reliability