Solar Dryers in Kenya are important for enhancing food preservation and food security. Aqua Hub Kenya deals in solar dryer construction and development for all clients in Kenya. Our Solar dryer prices in Kenya are affordable.
What are Solar Dryers?
Solar dryers are structures that enhance air and temperature regulation to a level that can enhance drying of food products.
These structures can consist of various materials that make the drying suitable. Such materials are wooden frames, galvanized steel frames, nails or screws and cover materials.
Why do Farmers require Solar Dryers ?
Agricultural and food products in Kenya often go bad due to high moisture and humidity levels. Even though sun drying works, food still gets spoiled due to inconveniences of contamination, unpredictable rains, and slow rate of drying.
This leads to the need for a more effective way of drying food and preventing damage and losses.
Which Food Products for Solar drying?
- Tomatoes
- Ginger
- Pumpkin seeds, mushrooms, etc.,
- Cashew nuts
- Grains such as maize, beans, peas, sorghum, millet, and rice
- Vegetables such as cabbages, pepper, meat, and Kales (sukuma wiki).
- Moringa leaves
- Pyrethrum flowers
- Coffee berries
- Fish
Types of Solar Dryers in Kenya
Greenhouse Solar Dryers
Greenhouse solar dryers are dryers made of wooden or metallic framed structures with greenhouse polythene cover.
The covering material is attached to the wooden or metallic structure using wires, nails or tapping screws.
These types of dryers have three categories ;
- Natural convection greenhouse dryers – heat is passes to the air and heats the food products. The heat removes moisture from food through evaporation and loses it to the air.
- Greenhouse dryer with modern ventilators or fans – utilize fans for air circulation.
- Continuous production greenhouse drying – consists of plastic greenhouse with drying chamber, movable trays, and fans. The trays have food products which are manually moved daily depending on the level of moisture.
Simple or Cabinet dryers
Cabinet dryers are movable wooden or metallic boxes with insulation on the inside and shelves to dry food. They use indirect heat to dry produce. The solar energy heats the air which moves to the racks and dries the products.
Hybrid Solar Dryers
Solar dryers that utilize energy integrated with other energy sources for efficient drying of food. The dryer is designed to allow for maximum energy to dry food at a faster and continuous rate.
It consists of a greenhouse dryer structure with transparent polythene cover but has extra heating systems. The heating system consists of a fan, a charcoal burning chamber, heat transmission chamber and insulation. A battery, solar panel and radiator are also available in the hybrid dryer.
Once the solar energy is not available, the energy in the battery cells heats the radiator and warms the air to dry food. Similarly, charcoal or firewood can be burned to transmit air to the drying chamber.
Constructing a Solar Dryer
At Aqua Hub Kenya, we normally deal in specific sizes of solar dryers. However, we can customize the size of solar dryers to match your drying needs.
The process of Constructing a solar dryer is:
- Choosing a suitable site.
- Clear all the vegetation and make the ground level.
- Dig holes for support frames or steel.
- Fit the frames on the ground and attach using cement.
- Connect the metal or wooden frames together.
- Cover the structure with a polythene sheet.
- Fit ventilation nets or fans.
- Construct racks or shelves inside
- Install additional heat sources, batteries, solar panels, and radiator.
Solar Dryer prices in Kenya
The cost of Aqua Hub Solar dryers depend on the size of the dryer. We have various common sizes, but we also customize the size to fit customer needs.
| Solar Dryer size (M) | Cost (KES) |
| 3 x 3 x 2 | 150,000 |
| 3 x 5 x 2 | 190,000 |
We mainly deal in Simple greenhouse and hybrid solar dryers.
Contact Aqua Hub Kenya for Solar Dryers and other Products.
Call 0790719020
