EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ? THERMAL HYBRID DRYER FOR DRYING CASHEW NUTS

The solar dryer is normally used to reduce the drying period and to get a safest drying free from said difficulties. The present study focusing on the usage of solar photovoltaic (PV) ? thermal (T) hybrid system (combination of electrical and thermal compo nents in a single area) for drying cashew nuts. One of the best methods for improving the efficiency of the Solar Photovoltaic ? Thermal Hybrid system using the air as a coolant is to reduce the working temperature of solar cell. The hot air is used to dry cashew nuts and the PV panel produce the electrical energy to run the blower. Hence they are not dependent upon other external sources. Widely the drying of the cashew nuts is carried out by using steam and electrical drying processes (it needs 65 - 70°C, a round 4 - 6 hours to reduce the moisture content). The mathematical model was developed for the relevant PV/T dryer considering various mass flow rate, solar intensity, spaces developed between the absorber plate and glass the cover for two different areas ( CASE - I:0.5m? & CASE - II:2m?) of the collector. The thermal efficiencies were observed to be 36.11% & 27.58% for CASE - I & CASE - II respectively. The total efficiencies were observed to be 55.15% & 54.63% for theoretical and experimental.