The ROCS project aims to deliver a novel 100% solar energy powered off grid cold storage facility initially for the storage of citrus fruits produced by Ugandan smallholders. This technology is also suitable for storing other agricultural products such as tomatoes, avocadoes, African indigenous leafy vegetables, fish and flowers. Cold storage is essential to prevent waste of agricultural products. For example in the Teso region of Uganda in 2018, 90% of the citrus crop was lost due to a lack of proper storage facilities. Across the country this crop generated a revenue of £329 million.

With proper cold storage facilities the economic benefits to Uganda would quickly accrue in the case of citrus fruits affecting 600,000 smallholders, the vast majority (90%) of whom are female, and 750,000 sub sector employees. To store half of Uganda’s annual citrus crop would require 1.4GWh of electricity and as only 18% of the rural population has any access to grid electricity this would likely be supplied using conventional diesel generators resulting in 2.9MtCO2 emissions. All these environmentally damaging emissions will be displaced by the proposed solar cold storage system. The ROCS project would supply the necessary energy for cold storage of agricultural produce using novel solar thermal concentrating technologies with nanofluids which would supply the heat required to drive a vapour absorption.