Both devices were unusual in design in that they did not require the use of electricity for cooling. They ran for a day on 2 hours of sunlight, allowing rural users lacking electricity to use the benefits of refrigeration.

Operation (Crosley Icyball)[edit]

The Crosley Icyball was an example of a gas-absorption refrigerator, as can be found today in recreational vehicles or campervans. Unlike most refrigerators, the Icyball had no moving parts, and instead of operating continuously, was manually cycled. Typically it would be charged in the morning, and provide cooling throughout the heat of the day.

Absorption refrigerators and the more common mechanical refrigerators both cool by the evaporation of refrigerant. (Evaporation of a liquid causes cooling, as for example, liquid sweat on the skin evaporating feels cool, and the reverse process releases lots of heat.) In absorption refrigerators, the buildup of pressure due to evaporation of refrigerant is relieved not by suction at the inlet of a compressor, but by absorption into an absorptive medium (water in the case of the Icy Ball).