Agro Fossil Free - Development and performance evaluation of a hybrid portable solar cold storage system for the preservation of vegetables and fruits in remote areas

General Description

India is one of the largest producers of both fruits and vegetables. Despite this, post-harvest losses, which make up roughly 25 % to 30 % of production losses due to a lack of on-farm handling and storage facilities hinder agricultural productivity. To reduce post-harvest losses, on-farm cold storage facilities are essential. However, the energy needed for cold storage is obtained from a grid system or a diesel generator which is not energy efficient. Therefore, it is crucial to use a cold storage system that is both energy-efficient and has a low carbon footprint in rural agricultural areas. This research work focuses on the development of an energy-efficient solar-PV-fed cold storage system for reducing post-harvest losses and asserting a better return to marginal farmers. A simple 2-ton hybrid portable energy-efficient cold storage system has been designed and developed for remote agriculture areas. The Prototype Solar Cold Storage (PSCS) is integrated with multiple sensors and a microcontroller for remote monitoring and controlling the stored items' temperature and humidity. Experimental evaluations are carried out on a 5 kW, 2-Ton PSCS developed in the laboratory to compare the performance of the solar-powered cold storage system with and without Phase Change Material (PCM). The PSCS system is operated continuously for 24 h to check the performance of banana fruits. PCM-based solar cold storage system maintains the temperature of the chamber within the permissible range and it consumes less energy than the conventional cold storage systems. PCM-based solar cold storage system effectively reduced 17.9 % of energy consumption compared to the Conventional cold storage system. As per the experimental results, PCM based solar cold storage system can be used as an alternative to the conventional cold storage system in remote agricultural areas with enhanced energy efficiency and zero carbon footprint.