article · Sustainability
Tomatoes have a high moisture content of 90 to 94 percent, presenting major challenges for storage and long-distance transport. To address the limitations of stationary solar drying systems caused by the changing position of the sun, an indirect forced solar dryer was developed using an autonomous sun tracker and an internet of things photovoltaic system. Performance testing evaluated slice thicknesses of 4, 6, and 8 millimetres, alongside air velocities of 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 metres per second. Compared to a stationary system, the tracking collector increased efficiency by 21.6 percent, raised internal air temperatures by 4.9 degrees Celsius at peak hours, and cut drying time by 20 to 25 percent. Slicing tomatoes to a 4-millimetre thickness reduced drying times by 50 percent, while changes in air speed showed no significant impact. The integrated photovoltaic system reached an efficiency of 17.45 percent.
High water content causes fresh tomatoes to spoil rapidly, making preservation critical for reducing agricultural waste. By using automated solar tracking and photovoltaic energy, this dryer enhances heating efficiency and shortens drying times without relying on fossil fuels. This approach offers a sustainable, practical method to extend produce shelf life and improve product availability.
This technology is relevant for agricultural processors and farming cooperatives seeking clean energy equipment to preserve perishable crops. Having been built, operated, and assessed through techno-economic and performance testing, the system sits at an applied and tested stage of development. Commercial adoption would centre on manufacturing automated tracking solar dryers with integrated internet of things controls for commercial post-harvest processing.
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Fresh tomato fruits (TFs) contain a high moisture content of 90–94%, which makes storage and transportation over long distances difficult. Lately, numerous investigators have employed diverse solar dryers (SDs) in conjunction with stationary solar collectors (SCs) to dry tomatoes; however, the effectiveness of this technique is limited due to the sun’s constant motion throughout the day. Consequently, the current study set out to create an SD that is outfitted with an autonomous sun tracking system and an internet of things (IoT)-based photovoltaic system connected to an SC to continually track the sun and increase the quantity of energy absorbed. Furthermore, we investigated some operating parameters that impact the SD’s performance, taking into account three tomato slice thicknesses (STs) (4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 mm) and three air velocities (1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 m/s). The obtained data demonstrated a notable rise in the efficiency of the SD integrated with the automatic SC tracker throughout the course of the day when compared to the fixed SC, where the latter’s efficiency improved by 21.6%, indicating a strong degree of agreement. The results demonstrated a notable 20–25% reduction in drying time and a 4.9 °C increase in air temperature within the SC integrated with an automatic solar collector tracker (ASCT) at 2:00 p.m., as compared to the SC integrated with a fixed SC. The results of this study also demonstrated that there were no appreciable variations in the air speeds used to dry the tomatoes; however, the thickness of the tomato slices (TSs) had a significant impact; using 4 mm thick tomato slices resulted in a 50% reduction in drying time. Furthermore, the highest efficiency of the PV system was discovered to be 17.45%. Although the two solar dryers have very similar payback times, there are more dried tomatoes available in the markets.
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DOI: 10.3390/su16167008
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