Solar dryer

Traditional methods of food drying is to place the foodstuffs in the sun in the open air. This method, called sun drying, is effective for small amounts of food. The area needed for sun drying expands with food quantity and since the food is placed in the open air, it is easily contaminated. Therefore, one major reason why sun drying is not easily performed with larger quantities of food is that the monitoring and overview becomes increasingly more difficult with increasing food quantities.

Description of the project

Practical Action Consulting (PAC) is the consulting arm of Practical Action, an international non-governmental organisation that uses technology to challenge poverty in developing countries. Through technology PAC enables poor communities to build on their skills and knowledge to produce sustainable and practical solutions - transforming their lives forever and protecting the world around them. Every year PAC uses technology to help over 1 million people out of poverty.

Description of the project: India produces large quantities of fruits and vegetables, but more than 50% of this is wasted. The project aims to: 1) demonstrate the commercial viability of solar drying of fruits, vegetables and condiments, and convert them into profitable products on a micro enterprise scale; 2) equip rural poor women with solar dryers and train them on proper use. Sthree Sakthi Mahila Samajam installed solar powered air dryers in 2017 under the Socio-Economic Program of AIWC.

This solar dryer design is based on the design of a green -house and was designed by QSM and Associates. The main difference is that the dryer is fitted with fine wire mesh on both the windward and the leeward sides at the bottom for air inlet and an opening at the top to provide for exhaustion of the vapors coming from the produce. Inside the dyer are racks fitted with fine mesh wire of food grade material to hold the produce and the floor is plastered. The standard design is seven by fifteen meters and can hold a ton of fresh produce.

Food losses cause a waste of precious resources, including land, water, energy, agricultural inputs, and human labor, used in the production of the lost food. Food loss is caused by a lack of low-cost, effective drying technology to dry food. Currently, over 95 percent of smallholder farmers use open-air drying to dry their crops. While dryers exist, there remains a void for products that are designed to target smallholder farmers.

NTPC is  largest power utility in India with an installed capacity of 51,410 MW, plans to become a 130 GW company by 2032. NTPC has comprehensive Rehabilitation & Resettlement and CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) policies well integrated with its core business of setting up power projects and generating electricity.

This dryer is a mud brick construction built close to the ground using low-cost materials for all its parts. Practical Action Nepal has promoted this type of dryer in remote parts of the country. The solar dryer was a popular introduction because of its effectiveness, economic viability, simplicity and hygienic practice.

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This document describes how to dry vegetables for preservation.