Solar-powered fruit and vegetable dryer

This work investigates drying of fruits and vegetables, highlighting the advantages of using solar energy for this purpose. This method not only reduces energy costs but also helps retain the optimal levels of essential nutrients in the raw materials. The main drawback of solar-powered drying devices is the complexity of accurately orienting the solar energy receiving surface to align with the sun's changing position throughout the day. This causes the drying devices to operate at lower capacity. A new construction of drying machine is presented whose solar energy heat-receiving apparatus is made in the shape of a convex hemisphere casing. This provides the constant exposure of the casing surface to the sun rays during the day regardless of the particular position of the sun, and, therefore, provides the use of the sun rays heat during the whole day.