• Phase change cold storage technology stabilizes temperatures, reduces compressor load, and enables load shifting, significantly lowering energy consumption in cold-chain facilities.
• Systematic comparison of three PCM types (organic, inorganic, and eutectic) highlights trade-offs among thermal conductivity, stability, cost, and encapsulation requirements.
• Classifying cold storage systems into active and passive types identifies refrigeration units and external heat ingress as dominant energy consumers, guiding targeted PCM integration.
• Future research should focus on high-performance PCMs, optimized cold storage panel arrangements, and system-level integration to overcome current scalability and cost barriers.