Techno-economic Study of a Solar Pv Powered Cold Storage Facility for Fish in Sena and Mrongo Beaches in Mfangano Island.

Abstract

Fishing is an economic activity predominant in the lakeside region of Kenya. Its sustainability and profitability is however, dependent on value addition alongside demand and supply management. This effort translates to timely sales at good prices without a rush to dispose off in fear of spoilage. To achieve these results, a reliable source of power and refrigeration system with minimal operation and maintenance cost is required. The main objective of this research is to design a cold storage facility for fish operating off solar PV system with thermal storage in Mfangano Island, Homabay County Kenya. The cold storage facility is motivated by the lack of electricity at study sites Sena and Mrongo beaches which are dependent of purchase of ice from transport trucks which are put in locally fabricated cooler boxes with fish. The ice is replenished every three to four days once melted. These results in high costs and dependence on trucks that if not available can render the fish spoilt if not sold within the shortest time, which would fetch low prices. The design of cold storage facility was based on daily fish caught and amount of ice required for storage. The quantity of fish was measured using a weighing scale and the mass recorded, the highest production in the year was used in sizing the refrigeration and solar photovoltaic capacity. The refrigeration system was designed based on the thermal load from fish and heat gain from the environment. The solar photovoltaic capacity was thereafter designed to deliver an equivalent electrical energy to the calculated thermal energy with two days of autonomy. The system was finally evaluated for economic feasibility. The outcomes of the design showed that for Mrongo Beach, 2 refrigeration systems rated 1 kW each and a solar PV of 1.5 kW would be sufficient, on the other hand Sena Beach required 3 refrigeration systems rated 1 kW each and 2.8 kW of solar PV. Key Words: Solar Photovoltaic, Fish Storage, Refrigeration, Economic Analysis