Vaccine Freezers Powered Partially by Solar, Wind Power
For ultra-low temperature (ULT) storage and transportation, a new entry in the cold chain market can power freezers off the grid. In related news, ULT freezers were purchased for Puerto Rico and U.S. Embassy vaccines efforts.
The pod features retractable solar panels and a wind turbine. (PC: Vaccine Pods)
A new company in the temperature-controlled sector has a unique offering that powers ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers partially with solar and wind power.
With temperature control critical to the global vaccination effort, Kansas City-based Vaccine Podswaslaunched by a former firefighter to provide pharmaceutical companies, government organizations, and NGOs with systems to support cold chain logistics efforts.
The pod features retractable solar panels and a wind turbine. (PC: Vaccine Pods)
The power source
The company’s technology, developed in partnership with HCI Energy, is designed to boost capacity and power for ULT storage and transportation, allowing the user to ship a container with the vaccine in a freezer powered by the container’s integrated power source.
The pod, which measures approximately 20 ft long, is powered by batteries that can be recharged with solar power. Wind turbines and a generator serve as back-up power sources.
The power system leverages sustainable energy to minimize reliance on the electrical grid or fossil fuels, per the company, with the goal of enabling uninterrupted cold chain management and delivery of vaccines and future biologics anywhere in the world. This technology has been designed for use with Stirling Ultracold’s SU780XLE vaccine freezers.
Tracking and monitoring conditions are key in ensuring safe vaccines. The power system offers real-time data visibility including:
Temperatures of freezers located anywhere in the world
24-hour monitoring of location
Security and remote access permissions
Solar array and deployment status with real-time weather tracking to deploy or retract the solar panels in the case of inclement weather
Power system performance and status
Fuel levels
Applications
One focus area for Vaccine Pods is to help power freezers in rural areas and developing countries that may lack access to modern cold chain storage and rely on corrugated boxes and dry ice.
A Stirling Ultracold freezer sits inside a Vaccine Pod. (PC: Vaccine Pods)
The World Health Organization reports that roughly 50% of all vaccines must be discarded worldwide each year due to improper handling and failed temperature control.
“With recent COVID vaccine approvals, the life sciences industry, in conjunction with government agencies and supply chain partners, is aiming to deliver 300 million doses in the U.S. alone in early 2021. Depending on the manufacturer, these vaccines must be kept temperatures between -20°C to -86°C at all times. This has created a new and significant challenge that existing ULT cold chain storage technology is not currently equipped to support,” said Edward Collins, CEO and founder of Vaccine Pods. “To help solve this public health crisis, we have engineered a cost-effective, energy-efficient technology that increases ULT cold chain storage capacity and power while working completely off the grid, enabling organizations to safely distribute more vaccines at reduced expense. Because of its cost savings and continual energy supply, this technology will not only help densely-populated localities, but also rural areas and developing countries that traditionally have not enjoyed the same access to these resources.”
“Vaccine Pods’ charging station technology is a gamechanger,” said Dusty Tenney, CEO at Stirling Ultracold. “It allows companies like Stirling Ultracold to ramp up capacity and accommodate growing energy requirements of our ULT freezers, guaranteeing that we can maintain vaccines at constant ultra-low temperatures until point of use. This is major step forward that will help supply chains meet the urgent need for COVID vaccines.”
National Guard with Stirling Ultracold Freezer. For story, see sidebar, below. (PC: Business Wire)
Supplying the Island of Puerto Rico and U.S. Embassy Locations with Freezers
In related news, Stirling Ultracold will be the exclusive ULT freezer provider for the island of Puerto Rico, as well as all U.S. embassy locations around the world:
The Puerto Rico National Guard has partnered with Select Gases of Atlanta and Bionuclear of Puerto Rico to purchase and distribute four of the company’s SU780XLE upright freezers, 20 SU105UE undercounter freezers and 20 ULT25NEU portable freezers to support vaccination on the island of Puerto Rico.
The State Department has purchased and already received a shipment of 210portable freezers (ULT25NEU model) to thermally protect and move vaccines to all U.S. embassy locations in order to safely vaccinate government employees and officials around the world.
One of the biggest challenges in the safe distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine lies in the last mile – or the last hand off in the supply chain before it gets administered to the patient. Once a vaccine shipment makes it through the supply chain in Pfizer-BioNTech’s specialty-made pizza boxes, it needs to be stored between ‑80°C to ‑60°C at all health service locations, pharmacies, and central repositories in order to ensure safe distribution to patients. Similarly, Moderna’s approved vaccine needs to be stored between -25°C and -15°C.
Traditional methods for ULT storage, like dry ice and liquid nitrogen, are both currently in short supply and require specialty personal protective equipment (PPE) and training for proper handling, making them an unreliable and risky source for transporting and storing a COVID-19 vaccine.
The company’s portable ULT unit can be plugged into universal power sources, like wall plugs or any vehicle outlet, in order to maintain efficacy while in transit. Each portable ULT freezer can hold up to seven of Pfizer’s pizza boxes, and nearly 7,000 vaccine doses overall.
“The approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has given everyone a glimpse of hope that relief is on the way,” said Major General Jose J. Reyes at the Puerto Rico National Guard. “We are about to reach the final hour for this vaccination and are doing everything in our power to get the vaccine to communities around the world. We are very aware of the challenges associated with last mile delivery and can rest easy knowing we have the ULT infrastructure in place to support the historic global COVID-19 vaccination.”
The drive across Puerto Rico is approximately six hours making safe transport to more rural communities critical. The company reports that the Puerto Rico National Guard plans to “use the upright freezers as a central repository, or hub, on the island, while its undercounter will be for the vaccination centers, and portable freezers will be used to transport vaccines around the island for local vaccine administration.”
The State Department plans to load vaccines into the portable freezer units in the U.S., power them onboard aircraft, and deliver them directly to the embassy doorstep where they will then be plugged into power and ready for vaccine administration. Universal power sources, batteries and vehicle outlets will be used all along these delivery routes to keep the freezer powered, ensure thermal stability, and limit any exposure the vaccines may have to ambient conditions.
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The pod features retractable solar panels and a wind turbine. (PC: Vaccine Pods)
