Solar Drying

Agriculture is a big part of Indian economy and drying of agricultural produce has been practiced since time immemorial. This is done by open sun drying under open the sky. This process has disadvantages like:

• Spoilage of product due to adverse climatic condition like rain, wind, moist, and dust
• Loss of material due to birds and animals
• Deterioration of the material by decomposition, insects and fungus growth.

Artificial mechanical drying is highly energy intensive and expensive which ultimately increases product cost. Thus solar drying is the best alternative as a solution of all the drawbacks of natural drying and artificial mechanical drying.

It also improves quality of the product. Solar drying can be used for the entire drying process or for supplementing artificial drying systems, thus reducing the total amount of fuel energy required.

Solar Drying system can be integrated with existing mechanical drying system.

The following processes can benefits from Solar Drying systems:

• Agriculture crop drying
• Food  processing  industries  for  dehydration  of  fruits, potatoes, onions and other vegetables,
• Dairy industries for production of milk powder, casein etc.
• Seasoning of wood and timber.
• Textile industries for drying of textile materials.