In the present study, an experimental evaluation of photovoltaic DC refrigerator with and without loading is carried out under different conditions. The experimental setup consists of photovoltaic (PV) panel, 12 V battery, charge controller and 158 L DC refrigerator. The refrigerator run with a 12 V DC compressor and incorporated with an AC/DC converter as a backup source. The temperature inside the refrigerator is adjusted through a thermostat. The effects of the variations of thermostat setting on the performance of the refrigerator were investigated. The daily ampere hour (Ah) generated from the photovoltaic panel is compared with daily ampere hour (Ah) consumed by the refrigerator for different configurations. Experimental results show that the refrigerator consumed less ampere hour (Ah) when the thermostat at lower position. However, it was found that the maximum consumption is recorded when the thermostat at higher position. More detailed test were conducted for the operation of the refrigerator without photovoltaic panel (battery only) and with AC/DC converter. The power consumption of the refrigerator with different loadings were also recorded and compared with power consumption without loading condition. It was observed that the thermostat setting position has a great effect on the energy consumption of the refrigerator. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.