The SunHarvested CoolRooms is an eco-friendly grid-less cooling methodology that can be used to stack, store, and increase the shelf life of perishable produce by nearly 3 times - assuring food security and reduction of methane emission from rotting fruits and vegetables. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VyIyXRSGRA). It has the potential to save crops worth about US$ 100 billion globally, and cut down on around 10-15% of the world's greenhouse emissions caused due to rotting of produce.

This innovation is inspired by nature and mimics the concept of convection currents. It orchestrates the simultaneous working of many age-old scientific principles with sustainable materials, making it a novel, one-of-a-kind idea. I drew inspiration from the LeChatliers principle on equilibrium, to facilitate pressure change and invoke wind circulation. The prototype facilitates the tandem working of concepts of Pressure Change, Evaporative Cooling, Stack Effect and other principles like adsorption, dehumidification, to cool the enclosure.

The SunHarvested CoolRooms can be used as an alternative to massively-polluting air conditioners and thus has application within any space that requires eco-friendly cooling whether it be in industries, places of entertainment, health, storage without harming the environment, making our living more pleasurable and sustainable without any contribution to carbon footprint.

In effect, this project will contribute towards the fulfilment of four of the UN's SDGs-

1) Zero Hunger

2) No Poverty

3) Climate Action

4) Sustainable Cities and Communities

The SunHarvested CoolRooms will allow us to make our lives pleasurable and sustainable without any contribution to carbon footprint. Thus, helping us save our planet from climate change, leaving us all with hopes of a (happy) future.

All along the winding road of the Nilgiri Hills, my head held a whirlpool of thoughts, wondering how I could put a smile on the faces of those tribal farmers I knew so well. The most important one being my mothers.

Millions of farmers living in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries lose nearly 30 to 40 percent of their farm output even before it reaches the wholesale market, which effectively minimizes the monetization of their hard labor, rendering them financially weak and helpless.

As a student of science, unable to accept the status quo, I decided to do something about this. Initial months were invested on secondary research figuring why harvested grains, fruits, and vegetables, rot. The jigsaw came together to highlight that it was due to a tripartite between the processes of transpiration, respiration, and fermentation. However, it was inspiring to learn that optimal temperature, humidity, and circulating air could slow down these processes and cut down the rate of degradation of the aesthetic and nutritional value of freshly-harvested produce. Though effective in addressing these needs, I knew that locally available cold storages weren't an affordable proposition. As an environmentalist, I was sure they weren't a sustainable option either. That's when I committed myself to finding an affordable-and-sustainable solution. Related to this need for such cooling, nature inspired me to mimic its magic to save Mother Earth from excessive refrigeration-related effluents that deplete its ozone layer.

As a citizen of Chennai, a city abutting the Indian Ocean, I observed that day temperatures soar to 45°C+ but magically, evenings become windy & cool due to convection currents. I replicated this process in the working model of a Draft Tube made of aluminium lined wooden tray, phase change material, and arched glass cover. This was attached to a brick room and an exhaust chimney. The tray filled with phase change material absorbed the heat of the sun to create convection currents facilitating wind movement from the environment into the room. To dehumidify the enclosure desiccants were used and to facilitate evaporative cooling khus was used. These 'SunHarvested CoolRooms' were able to create a cool environment where post-harvest produce could be stored.

To assess its impact, sensors were installed to record the temperature, humidity, and wind velocity within the enclosure. The readings were cloud-linked to the app named 'ThinkSpeak'. When compared to the ambient conditions, it was found that the temperature within the enclosure was lower by about 8-10 degrees Celsius, the humidity by around 20 RH, and the wind speed within the enclosure by approximately 5 Mph. This increased the on-farm shelf-life of agri-produce by almost 3 times.

The prototype of the SunHarvested CoolRooms can fit into a 6*6 feet area, which is optimal for any small, mid, and large-sized farm. The fact that it does not require electricity to function and only requires minimal maintenance makes it a great one-time investment for farmers to save crops worth about US$ 100 billion, globally.

For quantitative scaling of this, I have been reaching out to farmers with the support of NGOs like Trust Aatma, operating amongst the farming community.

The implementation of this project, as a hub and spoke model, is being undertaken using the '3:30:300 T3 DIY implementation approach' (Train The Trainer – Do It Yourself). As per this approach, a total of 3 (1 Almighty + 1 NGO trainer + me) are mobilizing, batch-training, and empowering 30 individuals (6 Knowledge Custodians within NGOs + 24 Knowledge Dissipaters within each village) to provide the much-needed implementational support towards quantitative scaling to nearly 300 beneficiaries.

I am currently working in the villages of Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu India, a locality surrounded by farms engaged in cultivating horticultural produce, for this purpose.

In effect, the SunHarvested CoolRooms will contribute towards the fulfillment of four of the UN's SDGs-

1) Zero Hunger

2) No Poverty

3) Climate Action

4) Sustainable Cities and Communities

This project will allow us to make our lives pleasurable and sustainable without any contribution to our carbon footprint. Thus helping us save our planet from climate change, leaving us all with hopes of a (happy) future.