Solar Powered Cold Storage Market

Solar Powered Cold Storage Market: Introduction

• Solar powered cold storage system uses energy from solar panels mounted on the roof-top of the cold room and stores it in high capacity batteries. These batteries feed an inverter, which in turn feeds the refrigerating unit.
• Solar powered cold storage infrastructure facilities enable farmers to improve storage quality and reduce wastage of fruits and vegetables
• Solar powered cold storage systems extend the shelf life of perishable food from two days to 21 days, and also reduce post harvesting loss by almost 80%
• These systems provide farmers with post-harvest cooling of their produce. This eventually provides marketing flexibility by allowing farmers to sell their products at the most appropriate time.
• Solar powered cold storage systems usually require less maintenance. These panels need to be cleaned weekly in order to derive maximum power. The battery water level must also be checked fortnightly. The water level needs be topped up for maintaining optimum battery performance.

Key Drivers of Solar Powered Cold Storage Market

• The agricultural market is inherently volatile. It develops the need for effective risk management policies. Not surprisingly, therefore, real prices of most crops and livestock commodities are expected to decline during the forecast period. Thus, use of solar powered cold storage systems is anticipated to enable growers to compensate for monthly and annual price variations effectively.
• There has been an increase in transition toward vegetarianism across the globe. Rise in income levels of the urban & rural population is driving the demand for dairy products. These products require cold storage systems for better shelf life. This is driving the solar powered cold storage market.
• Supportive government policies and initiatives coupled with infrastructure status and benefits accorded to the industry are boosting the solar powered cold storage market
  • In August 2016, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India extended its subsidy scheme to solar refrigeration units in order to boost the use of solar powered cold storages. Most solar powered items, including solar lamps and solar heating systems, carry a 30% subsidy under different MNRE programs.
• Rise in demand for energy throughout the world has led to an increase in exploration of new sources of energy. This is likely to drive the solar powered cold storage market.

Restraints of Solar Powered Cold Storage

• The tentative cost of solar panels stands at US$ 1500 per kW capacity. The final price is calculated as per the panel and storage capacities required. Thus, the overall cost of a solar powered cold storage system is 30% to 50% higher than traditional cold storages. This high cost can be ascribed to the lack of domestic production facilities of solar hardware units.

 Major Development

• In October 2019, ColdHubs Limited, a social enterprise that designs, assembles, installs, and commissions 100% solar powered walk-in cold rooms in marketplaces and farm clusters, announced that it opened and received the first storage at its newest ColdHub, situated inside Ta’al New Orange Market, Karu, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
• In February 2019, a prototype solar-powered cold storage system was commissioned at the Industrial Automation Laboratory at the National Institute of Technology, Trichy (NITT), india. This prototype is developed jointly by the faculty members of the National Institute of Technology, Trichy (NITT), and Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur (IIFPT).
• In November, 2018, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chennai, India developed a portable solar-powered cold storage device with a 500 kg capacity for storing vegetables and fruits, among other items. The first unit of the device, which provides storage facility with temperature ranging between 4°C and 10°C, was deployed at a farm in Kanchipuram district, around 80 km from Chennai.

Asia Pacific to Hold Major Share of Global Solar Powered Cold Storage Market

• Based on region, the global solar powered cold storage market can be classified into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa
• Asia Pacific held major share of the solar powered cold storage market in 2018. This trend is estimated to continue during the forecast period.
• China and India are the largest producers of horticulture commodities. These are predominantly agrarian countries. Thus, solar powered cold storage mobile unit can become a breakthrough product in these countries.

Key Players Operating in Solar Powered Cold Storage Market

Major players operating in the solar powered cold storage market are:

• Ecozen Solutions
• ColdHubs
• Unitech Engineering Solutions
• Covestro AG
• Bharat Solar Energy
• Solar Freeze
• Aldelano Solar Solutions
• Mech Air Industries
• Ice Make Refrigeration Limited
• Inspira Farms
• CONTAINED ENERGY
• Ahata Industries
• Dgrid Energy

Global Solar Powered Cold Storage Market, by End-user

• Horticulture/Floriculture Industry
• Plastics and chemical Industry
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• Others

Global Solar Powered Cold Storage Market, by Type

• Photovoltaic Operated Refrigeration Cycle
• Solar Mechanical Refrigeration
• Absorption Refrigeration

Global Solar Powered Cold Storage Market, by Region

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • Germany
  • France
  • U.K.
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Russia & CIS
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • ASEAN
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Rest of Latin America
• Middle East & Africa
  • GCC
  • South Africa
  • Rest of Middle East & Africa