--- --- Oct 09, 2025 # Beko Solar Off-Grid Performance Refrigerator Keeping food fresh during blackouts by [Craig Wilson](https://time.com/author/craig-wilson/) ## Craig Wilson  Courtesy Beko Beko last year rolled out its first solar-powered refrigerator in South Africa, which has been beset by rolling blackouts for years due in part to an aging power grid. The country has both the pressing need and the sunshine for solar refrigeration, says Alper Göynüşen, technical leader of R&D for power electronics at Beko. The first refrigerators cost R10,000 (around $500) and were distributed in partnership with local governments and the United Nations, but Beko plans to sell a model directly to consumers next year. When the power goes out, Göynüşen says, “you postpone to wash your clothes…but you need to keep your food fresh.” These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. Beko Solar Off-Grid Performance Refrigerator: The Best Inventions of 2025 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025/7318375/beko-solar-off-grid-performance-refrigerator/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025/7318375/beko-solar-off-grid-performance-refrigerator/"},"headline":"Beko Solar Off-Grid Performance Refrigerator","datePublished":"2025-10-09T11:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:52.925Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025/7318375/beko-solar-off-grid-performance-refrigerator/","keywords":["Tech","E-Commerce","list","franchise","Magazine","best inventions","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","Best Inventions 2025"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0bce7e2cccd57cd5/6998ca1f66d4e31072cbce01/solar-powered-off-grid-performance-refrigerator-TIME-best-inventions-2025.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Craig Wilson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/craig-wilson/"}],"creator":"Craig Wilson","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0bce7e2cccd57cd5/6998ca1f66d4e31072cbce01/solar-powered-off-grid-performance-refrigerator-TIME-best-inventions-2025.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025/7318375/beko-solar-off-grid-performance-refrigerator/","name":"Beko Solar Off-Grid Performance Refrigerator"}}]}] ```