Experimental Study of an Infrared-Solar Dryer Powered by a Photovoltaic-Thermal System

In the current study, an infrared-solar dryer powered by a photovoltaic-thermal system was designed, manufactured and tested in the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. The drying time, temperature, and the amount of electrical energy consumed during the drying process were investigated for potato slices with thicknesses of 3 and 7mm in the dryer. The amount of airflow rate in the photovoltaic-thermal system, which was supplied by a fan, was controlled during the experiments. The power of this fan was supplied directly from photovoltaic panels and the remaining amount of electrical energy produced by the panels was transferred to an infrared radiation source for drying the product. The results showed that the best drying condition is at 0.004kg/s with the radiation source. The significant advantage of this system compared to systems that use only the radiating source or hot air, as well as systems that part of their electricity or total electricity is provided by the city's electricity, is a significant reduction in time of drying process and energy consumption, along with is that the total energy for the drying process is provided by solar energy. The system was also designed to transfer the heat of the photovoltaic panels to the inlet air of photovoltaic-thermal collector to increase the temperature of the air and decrease the photovoltaic temperature and therefore to improve the thermal and electrical energy efficiency.