Photovoltaic-powered cold store and its performance

A photovoltaic-powered cold store plant, the first of its kind, has been de veloped to store 10 tons of frozen fish at - 15 degreesC. It consists of a photovoltaic array (4 kW peak), a battery bank (96 V DC, 180 A H), a vapour compression refrigeration system (1 ton), electronic controls for automati c operation of plant and an insulated cold chamber. Experiments were conduc ted on the system to evaluate its performance with no heat load (frozen fis h at - 15 degreesC) and with different heat loads. It is observed that the system can be operated with a maximum heat load of 2350 W to maintain the w alk-in-cooler temperature below the freezing point of fish ( - 2 degreesC). The performance studies conducted on these subsystems viz., photovoltaic a rray and battery bank showed that their output has deteriorated in 5 years. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.