Performance Studies on Solar Photovoltaic Thermal System for Crop Drying

Abstract

The growing population demands adequate supply of food grains for its sustenance and supporting life activities. The agricultural produce in India has increased over the years due to improved farm practices despite of which the country is ranked 2nd in terms of the number of children suffering malnutrition. It is reported that the child mortality rate in the country due to hunger and sanitation is above 1,000 per day. The post harvest losses in India are estimated at 4 to 6 percent for food grains and 16 to 18 percent for fruits and vegetables occurring at various stages of harvesting, storage and processing. The post harvest remedies for the loss of food grains and other agricultural produce includes better post harvest storage techniques based on removal of moisture to store the produce without being perished. The crop drying techniques based on use of renewable energy offer succor to save the large agricultural produce that goes to drains without being consumed.The reported work deals with design of a solar crop dryer for drying based on solar Photovoltaic/ Thermal (SPV/T) techniqueKeywordsPost harvest losses, solar crop drying, solar PV/T systems,drying rate