Cooling with the sun: Empowering off-grid communities in developing countries with solar-powered cold storage systems

Approximately 760 million people worldwide live without access to electricity, most of them in developing countries, where they also face challenges related to food insecurity and lack of adequate storage for medicines and vaccines. Solar PV off-grid cold storage systems can assist in mitigating those issues as well as bring sustainable development and economic growth to low-income populations, mainly in rural regions. This research presents technologies that provide solar off-grid cold storage to houses, health centers, retail shops (off-grid refrigerators), and small farms or street markets (off-grid cold rooms). At the same time, it can provide electricity access by powering other small electric loads (lamps, phone charges) by using its surplus of electricity generation, addressing several of the United Nations' sustainable development goals simultaneously. The manuscript assesses affordable business models and identifies key challenges and opportunities for deploying Solar PV offgrid cold storage systems, providing a comprehensive guide for policymakers, investors, and stakeholders involved in sustainable development and off-grid electrification in developing countries.