Pre cooler can be simply defined as the removal of heat from recently harvested produce. The sooner produce can be brought down closer to its optimal storage temperatures, the greater the quality of the produce can be maintained. In addition to maximizing produce quality, pre cooler also increases shelf-life and leads to increased profits for the growers.

Some numbers to think about:

Up to 50% of post-harvest produce is lost in emerging markets due to lack of proper storage

In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that there is $44 billion of post-harvest waste that could be at least partially recuperated with better pre cooler

Every hour between harvest and pre cooler (at a field temperature of 95°) can result in as much as 20 hours of shelf life reduction

One challenge farmers face today around pre cooler is how to balance maximizing transportation efficiency but minimize quality and shelf-life loss. Since most pre cooler is done away from the field such as in a walk-in cooler or at a cold storage facility, the farmer must decide at what point during harvest to transport the produce to begin pre cooler. Smaller, more frequent transportation loads can result in pre cooler sooner to maximize shelf-life but is more expensive or requires additional transportation equipment. Larger, less frequent loads can save on transportation costs but result in produce taking longer to begin the pre cooler process and therefore risk reducing the shelf-life.

We can help balance this equation. By being a 100% off-grid capable, refrigeration system, the pre cooler can produce a room cooling environment at the site of harvest, reducing the distance from field to pre cooler to 0. Pre cooler even has the potential to create a forced air cooling environment as well. And because it runs 100% on renewable energy, you don’t need to worry about plugging it to the grid or making sure the generator has fuel. If there is sunshine, the pre cooler can blow cold air.

The pre cooler’s space agnostic design means that it can work in a variety of cooler spaces—such as a 20’ shipping container, a walk-in cooler, a semi-truck trailer, etc. So let’s say that you have an old insulated shipping container on your farm. At harvest time, you could drop it off on the field as an off-grid pre-cooler. Just plug the panels into the pre cooler and attach the pre cooler to the container and start blowing cold air. You now have pre cooler capabilities on site and on demand. You could choose to leave the produce in the pre cooler until it reaches a certain temperature, or just until you have enough produce to fill an entire transportation load to go to storage. Either way, you are quickly bringing down the produce closer to appropriate storage temperature, increasing shelf life! You could even just pick up the container and use it as the transport device.

We believe the pre cooler can play an important role to improve pre cooler throughout the world, leading to more food reaching the customers’ plates and increased revenue for the producers and their families.

This article comes from solarxworks edit released