| Abstract: |
The annual agricultural loss of agricultural products in developing countries is between 30-40% which is mainly caused by lack of cold storage facilities. The current review paper is a meta-analysis of solar-powered evaporative cooling systems that are applied to the preservation of agricultural products. The article focuses on the development of low-cost cold storage technologies, in particular the solar evaporative cooling systems (SECS) which integrate renewable energy and passive cooling. This study critically analyzes 30 peer-reviewed publications published 2010-2024 to determine different design configurations, cooling performance parameters, cost-effectiveness, and practical implementations. The review of literature points to such key performance indices as coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.65-4.5, 10-25C lower temperature than ambient and preserving relative humidity levels of 85-95%. The critical analysis shows that systems involving photovoltaic panels, which have direct/indirect evaporative cooling, show better performance than isolated systems. This paper will discuss the storage of thermal energy, the psychometric phenomenon, and the criteria of material choice to achieve the optimal performance. Results have shown that these systems have the capacity of extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by 200-400 percent with less energy consumption of 60-80 percent than the conventional refrigeration. The paper has addressed implementation issues such as water quality standards, climate-based flexibility and maintenance standards. The future research directions include the integration of the Internet-of-Things, the development of new desiccant materials and multi-stage cooling system designs to achieve higher efficiency in the agricultural setting of the tropical and subtropical areas. |
