Cut flowers are the most temperature-sensitive export in Africa: a two-hour break in the chain shows up as a rejected shipment in Amsterdam. Solar-powered cold rooms at the farm and packhouse remove the generator from the equation.
Key facts
- Flowers need forced-air pre-cooling to 2–4 °C within hours of cutting, then continuous holding.
- A solar packhouse cold room runs on the sun by day and battery by night, with grid as backup.
- Kenya is a next-market for Frontières Bay after Nigeria and Ghana; enquiries are taken now.
- Dollar and euro earners qualify for Energy-as-a-Service from a single site.
The chain that has to hold
Cut, pre-cool, grade, pack, hold, truck, airport cold store, aircraft. The weak links are at the farm and packhouse, where power is least reliable. A solar plus battery plant sized to the packhouse's peak day keeps the pre-cooler and holding rooms at temperature without a generator failing at the worst moment.
Design notes for flowers
Humidity control matters as much as temperature. Rooms are zoned; ethylene-producing fruit never shares a room with flowers. Logged temperature records are part of the delivery — the auction and supermarket buyers ask for them.
Financing
Flower exporters earn hard currency, so standard service-contract terms apply: no capital outlay, a fixed monthly fee 20–30% below today's diesel plus grid cost, maintenance and monitoring included.
Flower grower? Start the conversation.
Talk to Frontières BayFrequently asked
Do you install in Kenya now?
Kenya is a next market. We take enquiries and run remote audits now; installation is scheduled as the Phase 1 rollout expands.
Can the system power the greenhouse as well?
Yes — irrigation pumps and greenhouse fans are daytime loads that suit solar directly.