Development of retractable tray dryer for drying crops in solar PV farms

Mohamad, Uzair (2018) Development of retractable tray dryer for drying crops in solar PV farms. [Project Paper] (Submitted)

Text lp FK 2018 48.pdf Download (16MB)

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert incoming solar radiation into useful electrical energy which is essential source of alternative energy for our daily use. For a typically polycrystalline PV panel, it has a solar- to-electrical conversion efficiency about 13 -18% and the remaining solar energy will be converted into waste heat. The waste heat will then increase the temperature of the PV cells and lead to decline of cell efficiency (-0.5% per oC). Temperature plays a significant role in Solar PV technology as well as herbal growth. Significant research laboratories has proven that approximately 0.5% electricity from PV generators are reduced based on 1 oC increase of the module temperature which is disperse as heat energy. Harvesting the dissipated heat from the bottom surface of a Photovoltaic (PV) Array is currently a new research area with regards to a sustainable urban development. This study suggest a new prototype of Retractable Tray Dryer (RtD) to be embedded under PV arrays as means of harvesting the dissipated heat as well as reducing the bottom temperature within the concept of heat convection. The trey dryer is design in such a way that it can be suited to any PV structures and can be clustered for a large scale farm. A specified leavy-type herbal crops are used as sample and tested at the Universiti Putra Malaysia PV Pilot site. Field test of the embedded tray as compared to normal system are presented covering the elements of temperature performance and drying rate.

Item Type:	Project Paper
Subjects:	T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Faculty:	Faculty of Engineering
Depositing User:	Ms Siti Mariam Giman
Date Deposited:	30 Jun 2026 10:04
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2026 10:04
URI:	http://psaspb.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2829

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