Is this going to be your next summer DIY project? Or how about giving it a shot this summer! There's still time! This one might be the most useful for all of your outdoor festivities! Check out how to make it below!

This does involve a little technical work but at the end it is well worth it.

Step 1: The Thermos

Any insulated cooler can be used. It should be portable and ideally have a pouring spout at the top to allow the copper tubes to go in an out without a lot of drilling.

Step 2: The Power Source

Brown Dog Gadgets makes a series of portable solar cell panels with built in voltage regulation to supply +5V at a USB connector.

Step 3: Power Distribution

To make the project easy, I have decided to use the USB connectors without any fixed wiring. Since a fan and pump are both powered, I purchased a ‘Y’ adapter that splits the single power connector on the solar panels into two paths.

Step 4: The Pump

I purchased a small, USB powered submersible pump, typically used in fountains. The specs are: 5V at 300ma (1.5W).

Step 5: The Fan

The fan I bought for this project is a Thermalake brushless 5V with variable speed. It has a USB cable and specs of 550ma (2.75W) at its highest rate.

Step 6: The Cool Exchanger

The ice water is pumped out of the reservoir through a spiral coil of small diameter copper tube. The diameter of the spiral should match the diameter of the fan. The center area will not have any air moving across it so be sure to check the fan as you are bending the tubing. I

Step 7: Test the Components

I have found that a USB tester (purchased from Ebay for around $6 is invaluable. It shows the voltage and current at a USB port and updates about once per second. Be sure to submerge the pump before running it to minimize wear.

Step 8: Fan Assembly

The pump should have its USB cable fed up through the thermos spout hole. I had to widen the hole a bit with wire cutters to get the cable through.

Step 9: Pump Assembly

InstaMorph can be used to mold a mating connector between two parts. I roughed up the surfaces with sandpaper to give the InstaMorph more grip and put a piece of tubing inside the pump hole and outside the copper tube to keep things aligned with I modeled the connection.

Step 10: Electrical Connections

The pump and fan are each connected to one branch of the Y-Cable. The center is connected to the solar panel output port. If you need more distance, you can pull some of the cable out out the thermos and extend the fan cable.

This is amazing! I never realized how easy this could be to make, as long as you have the right materials. For more information on how to build your own personal solar-powered AC unit, check out Instructables!

Featured Images via Instructables