A Techno-Economic Framework for Energy-Efficient and Intelligent Cold Storage Management in Agricultural Supply Chains

Authors

  • Sahana D. Gowda Rajarajeswari College of Engineering, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (Affiliated to VTU Belagavi)
  • Kamal T. Raj Rajarajeswari College of Engineering, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (Affiliated to VTU Belagavi)
Volume: 15 | Issue: 5 | Pages: 28324-28329 | October 2025 | https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.13452

Received: 16 July 2025 | Revised: 1 August 2025 | Accepted: 15 August 2025 | Online: 18 September 2025


Corresponding author: Sahana D. Gowda

Abstract

Smallholder farmers face high post-harvest losses due to the costly, grid-dependent cold chains with limited monitoring and market access. The current study presents an integrated framework combining Photovoltaic (PV) refrigeration with Phase-Change Materials (PCM) for thermal buffering, Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring, a Controlled-Atmosphere (CA) loop, and a lightweight mobile marketplace. A 200 L prototype was deployed for 30 days in a peri-urban cluster near Dharwad, India. The present study evaluated the daily energy use, temperature/Relative Humidity (RH) stability, shelf life, price realization, and 3-year Return On Investment (ROI). With PCM, energy fell by ~28% (to 2.5–2.7 kWh/day from 3.4–3.6 kWh/day), while the chamber temperature held within ±1.1 °C with <6% RH variation. The shelf life extended up to 4×, and app users realized ~22% higher prices, yielding an estimated 3-year ROI of ~2.05×. Compared with conventional storage, the results highlight the joint value of PCM-assisted cooling, closed-loop IoT/CA control, and market linkage for smallholders.

Keywords:

Smart cold storage, solar-powered refrigeration, IoT monitoring, phase change materials, controlled atmosphere, post-harvest management, smallholder farmers, energy efficiency

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How to Cite

[1]
S. D. Gowda and K. T. Raj, “A Techno-Economic Framework for Energy-Efficient and Intelligent Cold Storage Management in Agricultural Supply Chains”, Eng. Technol. Appl. Sci. Res., vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 28324–28329, Oct. 2025.

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