Food produce across the country are mostly dried in direct sunlight. When using the traditional method of drying, the food quality decreases due to poor hygiene practises. It’s also a time consuming process which totally depends on the availability of a heating source. With possibility of mold growth in humid region natural drying process is riddled with issues. Foods that uses solar dryer reduces the drying period, increases the yield and the produce can be sold for higher profits because of good quality.
One such solution is a solar tunnel dryer which consists of a wooden metallic structure covered by UV and IR stabilized plastic film with a fan to pull the air inside. Inside the dryer half of the area works as heat absorber and half of the area is used to dry materials. The fan is operated using a 10 w solar panel.
The second solution is presently under prototyping and testing. It consists of a separate drying chamber with steel mesh based trays and two 5v DC exhaust fans with an air inlet at the bottom. Air inlet is connected to solar heat collector which is a modified design of solar water heater. Solar heat collector middle layer consists of GI pipe frame covered with aluminium sheet in top layer. Glass wool is provided as insulation in the bottom layer. Frame and the sheet are painted black to absorb the heat from sunlight. All these are placed in a aluminium box covered with glass to avoid heat loss.
Operational states would cover Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as of now.