It's a very cool, back to basics approach. To me it sounds like building a solar freezer makes its own ice (not literally), so it's an ice box when there's no power. When it comes to "when all you have is a hammer" type thinking, HN tends to use high-tech, trendy approaches as its hammer. Sometimes taking a step backwards and looking to simpler solutions gives us the better approach. I read the phrase "once battery technology improves" so much on articles about solar power I've become numb to it, so I found this a refreshing read.