ARTICLE IN PRESS

Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 14611468 www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Solar collector systems to provide hot air in rural applications

E. Bilgen, B.J.D. Bakeka
Ecole Polytechnique, C.P. 6079, centre ville, Montreal, Que., Canada H3C 3A7 Received 9 May 2007; accepted 19 September 2007 Available online 29 October 2007

Abstract A simple solar system is designed and studied, its thermal performance and economics are evaluated. A mathematical model and a code are developed based on monthly average meteorological data. The collector eld is built using indigenous and locally available materials. Two kinds of solar collector eld are considered: (i) collector eld for which the ground is used as absorber and with glazing; (ii) collector eld for which roong sheet is used as absorber without glazing (bare absorber plate collector). In a case study, the system is used to provide thermal energy for drying tobacco in an existing propane burning heating plant at Bokito, Cameroon. The results showed that in the rst case, the thermal efciency is about 38%, the useful annual solar energy collected is 2:592 GJ=m2 =year and the cost of thermal energy is 2.03 $/GJ, and in the second case, the corresponding values are for collector with galvanized iron roong sheet absorber, 22%, 1:443 GJ=m2 =year, 1.46 $/GJ, and for collector with aluminum roong sheet absorber, 24.5%, 1:650 GJ=m2 =year, 1.28 $/GJ. The estimated solar energy cost compares favorably with the thermal energy cost of 36.5 $/GJ from the existing propane red system. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Solar collector; Rural applications; Hot air; Indigenous

1. Introduction Various types of solar systems for drying agricultural products have been reviewed and studied in the literature (e.g., [13]). Traditional open to sun drying is the simplest, however, it is associated with low quality product and crop losses. Several successful improvements have been done and studied at developing solar drying systems to offer quality product, shorten the drying time and reduce crop losses. We can mention, for example, natural convection solar dryers, either cabinet or tunnel type [4,5], mixed convection type [6], mixed mode dryers [7] and greenhouse type dryers [8]. A classication of design and operation of various types have been reviewed in [1]: active and passive types implying natural and forced convection, integrated, distributed and mixed mode types. The collectors used in solar dryers are reviewed in [3] where the appropriate design and materials for passive and active systems are discussed. Among the
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 514 340 4711x4579;

many, a classical type bare-plate solar collector has also been presented, and its advantages and disadvantages have been discussed. The improvements in solar drying come with a price: the solar drying system becomes too complex and expensive. In many cases, the application of these systems in rural areas and developing countries requires either imported commercial components for solar dryers or imported material to build them. It is shown that the solar collectors in particular, may become the most complex component of a solar heating system (e.g., [9]). We see from this brief review that there are several solar dryer types with suitable collector systems for drying applications. The emphasis in these solar dryer studies is usually to achieve better thermal performance and quality of products. Building of collector eld on place using indigenous and locally available materials has not been addressed. Our objectives of this study are:

fax: +1 514 340 5917. E-mail address: bilgen@polymtl.ca (E. Bilgen). 0960-1481/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2007.09.018

To design and develop a simple, ground erected solar collector system, which can be built using indigenous and locally available materials on place.

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Nomenclature Ac cp Gsc H HT Hb Hd Hg H0 hw KT _ m n N Nu qu Qu qt Rb Ra S T UL Ut Ub collector area, m2 heat capacity, J/kg K solar constant, W=m2 monthly average daily radiation on a horizontal surface, J=m2 day monthly average daily total radiation on sloped surface, J=m2 day monthly average daily beam radiation, J=m2 day monthly average daily diffuse radiation, J=m2 day monthly average daily ground radiation, J=m2 day monthly average daily extraterrestrial radiation on horizontal surface, J=m2 day wind convection coefcient, W=m2 K monthly average daily clearness index mass ow rate, kg/s average day of the month number of glass cover Nusselt number useful heat ux, J=m2 day useful heat, J/day top losses, J/s monthly average beam radiation Rayleigh number monthly average daily radiation absorbed by a sloped surface, J=m2 day temperature, K overall loss coefcient, W=m2 K top loss coefcient, W=m2 K bottom loss coefcient, W=m2 K

Vw

wind velocity, m/s

Greek symbols a a b d  Z y rg s t t ta f os absorption coefcient monthly average ground absorption coefcient slope, o declination, o emittance efciency incidence angle, o albedo StefanBoltzmann constant, J=m2 K4 transmission coefcient, time monthly average transmission coefcient monthly average transmittanceabsorptance product latitude, o sunset hour angle, o

Subscripts a b c col d g n p r air, ambient beam cover collector diffuse ground normal plate, ground reection, radiation

To develop a simplied solar thermal plant simulation method and a computer program for simple collector system to provide thermal energy in agricultural and/or industrial case. To carry out a case study to provide thermal energy in a tobacco drying plant in Cameroon.

2. System description The solar thermal system studied consists of a collector system built and erected on place. For ease of construction, the collector eld may be in a rectangular form as shown in Fig. 1. The sides as well as the exit section are closed; the air enters from one open side and is heated by the ground (or by the bare metal sheets) and exits at the end where a collecting duct is installed. The ground is prepared, levelized, and is covered by a layer of sand and then gravel. Then 50 100 mm wooden stakes are installed. To make a cover supporting frame on the ground, they are connected on the top by 50 100 mm size wooden pieces in the air ow direction as well as they are connected similarly

every 1 m to pose the covers on their four sides. Following the design of unit collector size, which may be 0:50 1:00 m or 0:50 2:00 m, a rectangular collector eld frame is prepared. We considered two kinds of collector, schematically shown in Fig. 2: (i) a single glazing of 3 mm thickness installed on the frame and the ground is used as absorber surface; the channel formed is served as an air channel in which the incoming air is heated mainly by the ground; (ii) single galvanized iron or aluminum roong sheets are installed on the frame serving as absorbing surface. In this case also, the channel formed by the ground and bare metal sheets is used as air channel in which the incoming air is heated mainly from above. The hot air is collected at the end of the collector system in a hot air duct, which is connected to the suction side of a circulation fan. We note that all the material for construction of collector eld is indigenous or locally available. Frame material, window glass, corrugated galvanized iron sheets and aluminum sheets are manufactured in many developing countries and/or they are commonly used in construction in urban and rural areas.

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E. Bilgen, B.J.D. Bakeka / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 14611468
TO HEATING SYSTEM COLLECTING DUCT

1463

3. Mathematical model and code The simulation model and the code were developed following the methods for evaluating long term solar system performance using the monthly average absorbed radiation. The meteorological data required are monthly average daily solar radiation on a horizontal surface, monthly average air temperature and wind velocity for a typical day of each month. The mathematical model and the code both are developed for the general case of solar thermal systems with a sloped collector eld and using two types of collector discussed earlier. The simulation code consists of the following: (i) the mathematical model to calculate the solar radiation received by sloped collector systems; (ii) the optimization model to determine optimum slope based on annual maximum solar energy; and (iii) the model to calculate cost and economics. These models are briey reviewed in the following sections. 3.1. Solar radiation model

SIZE 0.5X1m

AMBIENT AIR

Fig. 1. Schematic of the solar collector eld.

GLAZING

50x100mm

The solar energy received by a sloped surface is determined using the monthly average daily total radiation on a horizontal surface, H. The algorithm to calculate the monthly average of daily total radiation on a tilted surface at a given location, for a particular day, follows the well established methods in the literature (e.g., [10]). The monthly average extraterrestrial radiation on a surface is   0 24 3600G sc 1 0:033 cos 360n cos f cos d sin os H 365 p  pos sin f sin d , 1 180 where   284 n d 23:45 sin 360 , 365 os arccos tan f tan d.

0.50m METAL ROOFING SHEET

(2) (3)

The monthly average daily clearness index K T is calculated as H . KT 0 H (4)

50x100mm

The diffuse component of the monthly average daily radiation is calculated as follows: For 0:3oK T o0:8 and os o81:4 :
0.50m
Fig. 2. Schematic of the collectors: (a) ground used as absorber and with single glazing and (b) metal roong sheet used as absorber and without glazing.

2 3 H d H T 1:311 3:022K T 3:427K T 1:821K T . For 0:3oK T o0:8 and os 481:4 :



(5)

2 3 H d H T 1:391 3:560K T 4:189K T 2:137K T .

(6)

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The monthly average of Rb is cosf b cos d sin o0s p=180o0s sinf b sin d Rb cos f cos d sin os p=180os sin f sin d (7) with o0s mincos1 tan f tan d; cos1 tanf b tan d. (8) Finally the monthly average solar radiation on a south or north facing sloped surface is calculated as 1 cos b S H T H d Rb tab H d tad 2 1 cos b , 9 Hrg tag 2 where the monthly average transmittanceabsorptance product is ta S . T H (10)

where y takes the values for direct, diffuse and ground reected incidence angles to calculate corresponding absorption coefcients, a. The upward and ground losses are calculated following the well established relations and algorithm, and the overall loss coefcient U L U t U b is calculated (see Fig. 2). Top loss coefcient is calculated (e.g., [10]) as 9 > > > > > > > > Tp Ta > > > qt 1 0:25 1 > Nc T p T a =N ff hw > > > > = 4 4 sT p T a ; 1 > > p 2N ff 1=p N > > > > 2 > > c 1:2529 0:00651b 0:0000267b ; > > > 2 > > ff 0:76 0:118V w 0:0066V w ; > > > ; hw 2:8 3:0V w : Ut qt ; Tp Ta Ground loss coefcient is calculated from [12] as Ub 2   krcp 0:5 , pt (14)

(13)

The monthly average of incidence angles of direct, diffuse, and ground reected radiations are 9 yb arccossin d sin f cos b sin d cos f sin b cos g > > > > > cos d cos f cos b cos o > = cos d sin f sin b cos g cos o cos d sin b sin g sin o; > > > > yd 59:7 0:1388b 0:001497b2 ; > > ; 2 yg 90 0:5788b 0:002693b ; (11) where, in view of lack of an analytical expression, the monthly average incidence angle is approximated at 2.5 h from the solar noon on an average day of the month. The possible error in calculating yb by the approximate method was checked by running the code at various slopes and latitudes and comparing the results against those of graphical solutions in [11]. It was found that its effect on H T was less than 0.5%. Case (i): Collector system with glazing: The solar energy received by the collector is transmitted through a transparent cover and absorbed by the ground, which is heated up. A major part of the absorbed energy is transferred to the ambient air entering through the open entrance and exiting through the collector duct. A part is lost by a combination of heat transfer, through the cover and ground, which are indeed similarly evaluated as for a at plate air solar collector, by calculating so-called upward and back losses. The principal relations are as follows. The ground absorption coefcient as a function of incident angle and the transmittanceabsorptance product are [10] 9 2 > a an 1 2:0345 103 y 1:990 104 y > = 3 4 (12) 5:324 106 y 4:799 108 y ; > > ; ta 1:01 ta;

where the period t 86; 400 s. We note that since the thermal simulation in this study is based on monthly average daily parameters, U b is an average heat transfer coefcient estimated based on the time and constant surface temperature. The simulation of periodic and unsteady state case for heat storage and recuperation due to periodic heat transfer to and from the ground is beyond the capability of a monthly average daily simulation model. In any case, we will not consider heat storage in the ground because we are interested with a solar system to provide solar heat during sunny periods. Heat transfer in the collector channel is calculated as (e.g., [13]) Nu 0:0158Re0:8 . (15)

Heat transfer due to wind from the top of the collector may be calculated using the last equation in Eq. (13). For low wind velocities, it may be considered by natural convection in which case it is determined from for 104 oRao107 : Nu 0:54Ra0:25 ; for 107 oRao1011 : Nu 0:15Ra0:33 : ) (16)

The radiation heat transfer coefcient between two parallel plates is hr sT 2 T 2 T 2 T 1 2 1 . 1 1 1 2 1 (17)

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The collector efciency, ow and heat removal factors are, respectively, F0 9 hr h2 h2 U t h1 hr h2 h1 ;> > > U t hr h1 U b h2 hr h2 > >    r = _ Ac U L F 0 mcp ; > F 00 1 exp > > _ Ac U L F 0 mcp > > ; 0 00 FR F F :

cost, C 3 are calculated as 9 1 ri n ri > > ; > n > 1 ri 1 = ri ;> C 2 C sv 1 ri n 1 > > > ; C 3 C o&m : C 1 C sys

(21)

(18)

The cost of solar thermal energy in ($/GJ) is calculated from the annual total cost and annual production as C en C1 C2 C3 , Qu (22)

The useful heat collected, Qu or useful heat ux, qu and the thermal collector efciency, Zcol are 9 Qu Ac F R S U L T i T a ; > = qu F R S U L T i T a ; > ; Zcol qu =H T :

(19)

where Qu is the annual solar thermal energy production in (GJ/year), and C en is the cost of solar thermal energy in ($/GJ). 3.3. Algorithm The algorithm assumes that the collector eld is less than 10 m. Otherwise, the eld is divided into equal segments of 10 m long and the parameters determined by computations in a previous segment are used as those at the entrance of the following segment. The iterative process is summarized below.

Case (ii): Collector system without glazing: The same mathematical model is applicable for this case with transmission of irradiation and losses through the glass cover not calculated. 3.2. Cost and economics The cost of solar thermal energy is determined based on the total investment required for a collector system, its salvage value at the end of plant life, its annual operation&maintenance cost, and the annual production rate of thermal energy. The total solar collector system cost, C sys , its salvage value, C sv and the annual operation&maintenance cost, C o&m are estimated as (e.g., [14]) 9 C sys C cover C frame C duct C yard ; > = C sv C 0:7 ; sys > ; C o&m 0:01 C sys :


(20)

The major guidelines for economics in determining thermal energy cost are as follows:

 

   

the investment is 100% nanced by borrowing the required capital from nancial institutions for the period of plant life time, which is assumed to be 10 years; it is in constant 2007 US dollar, the interest rate is 5% per year and paid back in annual installment; operation and maintenance are done by the owner at 1% of the total installation cost per year as in Eq. (20); the installation is integrated with the existing drying system and there is no extra cost for land; plant life for economic write-off is 10 years for collector system.

      

Annual cost of the borrowed capital, C 1 , the annualized salvage value, C 2 and the annual operation&maintenance

Read geographic location (latitude, longitude, altitude), collector data (slope, type of cover, dimensions), cover material properties, ground optical characteristics. Read meteorological data (monthly average daily radiation on horizontal surface, temperature and wind velocity). Calculate monthly average incidence angles for diffuse and reected radiations, and monthly average coefcients of reection, transmission, absorption for these incidence angles. Calculate monthly average suns position at noon and sunset hour angle, and incidence angle of direct beam radiation. Calculate monthly average coefcients of reection, transmission, absorption for beam radiation. Calculate monthly average extraterrestrial radiation, clearness index, and monthly average total radiation on the collector. For a known air inlet temperature, input initial values for cover temperature, T c , uid temperature, T f , average uid temperature, T fm , absorber temperature, T p. _ Input air mass ow rate, m=s=m2 . Iteration loop (to determine by iteration T f , T c and T p ). Calculate convection heat transfer coefcients of wind, in the collector, and overall coefcient, U t , U b , U L . Calculate F 0 ; F 00 ; F R and useful energy, Qu . Calculate T f , T fm and T p during which make use of two relations, one based on Qu and the other on T fm and T i to calculate T f . Check if jT f i T f i 1jo0:1; if not repeat the calculation starting at the iteration loop. Calculate monthly average produced energy, thermal efciency and other parameters.

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Calculate cost and economics using (20)(21) and determine annual thermal energy per m2 collector area, the cost of energy per GJ.

3.4. Code and validation The computer code was validated using various examples in the literature (e.g., [10]) in every step of the calculations of important parameters such as H T , S and u . The agreement was obtained within 2% to 3% for Q various slopes and latitudes. 3.5. Case study: tobacco drying at La Sitabac, Bokiko, Cameroon We chose drying of tobacco at La Sitabac, Bokiko, Cameroon because of the availability of data. Otherwise, our goal is to design and study a simple system built using indigenous or available materials, suitable for drying of any agricultural product including tobacco in rural areas of developing world. Following data were made available by La Sitabac [15]: The data for the drying system is for 3.5 hectare plantation, which produces 10,500 kg humid tobacco per year. The system consists of four propane burning furnaces, tobacco is dried in 68 days and the propane consumption is 0.6 kg propane/kg of dried tobacco. The heating system runs 24 h/day and consumes 14 kg/day liquid propane. The air temperature is ne tuned from 40 up to 64 1C during various stages of drying process. Bokiko, Mbam and Inoubou province, Cameroon, at latitude, f 5:5 and longitude, 11.23. The meteorological data were obtained from a renewable energy resource web site for Baa, nearby location to the north of Bokiko, with very similar climatological characteristics [16]. With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the collector eld slope is taken as b 0, i.e., the collector system is built on the at ground. 4. Results and discussion The heating system at La Sitabac consumes 14 kg propane/ day, which has a net equivalent heating value of 14 kg=day 46; 340 kJ=kg 0:8 % 518; 000 kJ=day or 21,600 kJ/h. Here we assumed the combustion efciency, Zcomb 0:8. If we assume that we can supply hot air from the solar collector to the heating system for 10 h/day, the solar system size will be 0.216 GJ/day of 10 h. To determine the total solar collector area, we run the code with three collector types and determined their thermal performance. We present the simulation results in Figs. 35. The monthly average daily radiation on horizontal surface, H, the monthly average daily total radiation on the collector, H T together with the monthly average daily radiation absorbed by the absorbing surface are plotted in Fig. 3. As expected, monthly variation of these parameters follows the latitude, i.e., they are slightly higher in winter months.

H T % H since Bokiko is near equator. S for the collector with single glazing is lowest since the absorber surface in this case is the ground and the transmission losses through the glazing is accounted for. S for galvanized iron roong sheet absorber surface is slightly higher than that of aluminum roong sheet absorber since the formers absorption coefcient is higher than that of aluminum. With yearly average values of S show that the bareplate collectors with iron and aluminum roong sheet absorber are 31% and 25% more than that with glazing, respectively. The useful energy collected by three types of collector systems, Qu together with H and H T as reference is presented in Fig. 4. The useful solar energy collected by each collector type, Qu , throughout the year shows a T . Yearly average Qu by collector variation similar to H
25 20 H, HT, S (MJ/DAY) 15 10 5 0
GLASS COVER o

H HT

o o

ALUMINUM ROOFING SHEET

GALVANIZED IRON ROOFING SHEET

6 7 MONTH

10

11

12

Fig. 3. Monthly average daily solar radiation on horizontal surface, on collector surface and on the absorber as a function of month at Bokiko (Cameroon) for three types of collectors.

25 20 H, HT, Qu (MJ/DAY) 15 10 5 0

HT
Qu GLASS COVER Q ALUMINUM u ROOFING SHEET Qu GALVANIZED IRON ROOFING SHEET

10

11

12

MONTH
Fig. 4. Monthly average daily solar radiation on horizontal surface, on collector surface, and useful energy as a function of month at Bokiko (Cameroon) for three types of collectors.

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50 %
GLASS COVER

50
Texit (COLL. BARE ABSORBER)

40

40 Tair (C), Texit (C)

Texit (COLL. WITH GLAZING) Tair

30

NO COVER GALVANIZED IRON ROOFING SHEET

NO COVER ALUMINUM ROOFING SHEET

30

20

20

10

6 7 MONTH

10

11

12

10

10

11

12

MONTH
Fig. 6. Monthly average daily ambient air temperature, exit temperature and air velocity in the collector systems as a function of month at Bokiko (Cameroon) for three types of collectors.

Fig. 5. Monthly average daily thermal efciency of the collector systems as a function of month at Bokiko (Cameroon) for three types of collectors.

system with single glazing is 7:08 MJ=m2 =day, while those by galvanized and aluminum roong sheet collectors are 4.54 and 3:97 MJ=m2 =day, respectively. Thus, Qu by the bare-plate collectors is about 64% and 56% that of with glazing. This is because the collector system with glazing has lower top losses with respect to the other two, which have no glazing to reduce infrared radiation and convection losses. We present in Fig. 5 the thermal efciency Zcol by Eq. (19) for the three types of collector. Zcol for the collector with single glazing is about 38%. Zcol for the galvanized iron roong sheet absorber is about 22% and that for the collector with aluminum roong sheet absorber is about 24.5%. We see that the thermal performance of the metal sheet absorber collectors without glazing is almost two-third of the one with ground as absorber and with glazing. In case of the collector with metal sheet absorber, the thermal losses are, in addition to by convection, mostly by radiation from the metal absorber. The monthly average daily air ambient temperature, T air , which is the air inlet temperature to the collector system together with the exit air temperature, T exit from the collector system, and the air velocity in the collector system are presented in Fig. 6. Generally, the exit air temperature is about 40  C. We see from Figs. 36 that the average useful solar energy per day by each system is about 7 MJ=m2 for the system with glazing, 4 MJ=m2 for the system with iron roong sheet and 4:5 MJ=m2 for the aluminum roong sheet. Thus, the required collector area will be about 30 m2 for the collector with glazing, 54 m2 for galvanized iron roong sheet and 48 m2 for the aluminum roong sheet. In all three cases, the arrangement may be three collectors of 0:5 2 m size in a column, put together as many as required for each case. For example, for the collector with glazing we have 10 columns each with three collectors 0:5 2 m size; the columns of the collector

Table 1 Useful solar energy and cost for the three collector systems Collector system Useful solar energy (GJ/m2/year) 2.592 1.443 1.650 Cost of energy ($/GJ) 2.032 1.461 1.278

With glazing Iron roong sheet Aluminum roong sheet

eld may be arranged by 5 for easy maintenance as shown in Fig. 1. We note that the temperature in tobacco drying has various stages and the air temperature varies from 40 to 64  C [17]. The system in the case study can provide directly the necessary heat for the rst stage, which may take upto 72 h. Thereafter, the propane burning system may be used to boost the air temperature as required by a process stage. 4.1. Cost and economics The quoted prices as of 2007 are 8500 FCFa=m2 17:70 $=m2 for 3 mm glass, 4000 FCFa=m2 8:26 $=m2 for 2 mm glass, 2100 FCFa=m2 4:34 $=m2 1 2 m size roong sheets and 2070 FCFa=m2 4:28 $=m2 1 3 m size roong sheets. We used 3 mm thick glass for glazing and 1 2 m size metal sheets. The installed cost of the collector system, C sys is estimated from the rst equation of Eq. (20) using the estimating method in (e.g., [14]). The component costs all in US$=m2 are estimated as follows:

  

Price of glass 17:70 $=m2 , price of roong sheet 4:28 $=m2 ; C cover Price of glass or roong sheet Ac ; C frame 0:53 C cover ;

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C duct 0:53 C cover ; C yard 0:21 C cover .

Collected useful solar energy in GJ=m2 /year and cost of energy in $/GJ for the three collector systems are listed in Table 1. We note that the current liquid propane price in Cameroon is about 1.36 $/kg. The unit thermal energy for heating is calculated as 1:36=37; 000 kJ=kg 106 GJ=kg 36:75 $=GJ. Thus, the economics of using solar energy in agricultural industry is very attractive. 5. Conclusions We presented in this study solar thermal plants for agricultural applications in developing countries. To evaluate them, we developed a mathematical model and a code on MATLAB platform based on monthly average meteorological data and a thermodynamic cycle. The thermal performance of three collector types is studied for supplying heat to dry tobacco in Cameroon. The horizontal collector eld is built at the site using indigenous and locally available materials. We believe that many tobacco farmers operating in small scale in Cameroon may benet economically by putting up themselves a collector eld to supply solar heat for drying their products rather than using propane, an expensive fuel. Similarly, many farmers who market their produce dried may benet from the simple solar system studied in this paper. The main results of this study are

also for small scale drying units having small collector area, for example, 12 m2 size. These collectors can be combined with a suitable chimney and cabinet. Study of a natural convection dryer will be carried out in a future paper. The collector eld can also be used in industrial applications to provide low temperature heat.

Acknowledgment The nancial support for this project by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is acknowledged.

References
[1] Ekechekwu OV, Norton B. Review of solar-energy drying systems II: an overview of solar drying technology. Energy Conver Manage 1999;40:61555. [2] Koyuncu T. Performance of various design of solar heaters for crop drying applications. Renewable Energy 2006;31:107388. [3] Ekechekwu OV, Norton B. Review of solar-energy drying systems III: low temperature air-heating solar collectors for crop drying applications. Energy Conver Manage 1999;40:65767. [4] Forson FK, Nazha MAA, Rajakaruna H. Simulation and experimental studies on a single pass, double duct solar air heater. Energy Conver Manage 2003;44:120927. [5] Hossain MA, Bala BK. Drying of hot chilli using solar tunnel drier. Solar Energy 2007;81:8592. [6] Shanmugam V, Natarajan E. Experimental investigation of forced convection and dessicant integrated solar dryer. Renewable Energy 2006;31:123951. [7] Forson FK, Nazha MAA, Akuffo FO, Rajakaruna H. Design of mixed-mode natural convection solar crp dryers: application of principles and rules of thumb. Renewable Energy 2007;32;230619. [8] Koyuncu T. An investigation of the performance improvement of greenhouse-type agricultural dryers. Renewable Energy 2006;31: 105571. [9] Karim MN, Hawlader MNA. Development of air collectors for drying applications. Energy Conver Manage 2004;45:32944. [10] Dufe JA, Beckman WA. Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes. New York: Wiley Interscience; 1991. [11] Klein SA. Calculation of the monthly average transmittance absorptance product. Sol Energy 1979;23:54751. [12] Ingersoll LR, Zobel OJ, Ingersoll AC. Heat Conduction (With Engineering, Geological and Other Applications). New York: The University of Wisconsin Press; 1954. [13] Incropera FP, DeWitt DP. Fundamentals of heat and mass transfer. New York: Wiley; 1996. [14] Peters MX, Timmerhouse KD. Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1990. [15] Private communication with La Sitabac (Societe Industrielle de Tabac du Cameroon), Bokiko, Cameroon, 7/12/2006. [16] hhttp://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/ssei; 2006. ` [17] Bakeka BJD, Etude et conception dun systeme solaire pour sechage de tabac au Cameroun, Rapport de PFE, Ecole Polytechnique, Genie Mecanique, 7 decembre 2004.

All three solar collector types seem to be feasible propositions. The collector system with glazing may be more appropriate for big operators like La Sitabac, those with metal roong sheets may be more appropriate for small operators and farmers since roong sheets are available everywhere including rural area. For locations near equator 15 , the collector eld may be on at ground. In other places, the sloped surfaces should be preferable. In the latter case, natural sloped surfaces may also be used. By using metal roong sheet as absorber without glazing penalizes the thermal performance by as much as 3040%. However, we note that due to cheaper price of metal roong sheets, the cost of thermal energy is reduced with respect to the collector system with glazing. From the maintenance point of view, the collectors with metal roong sheet absorber are better suited for operating the solar plant in urban as well as rural areas of developing countries. The simple collector systems, in particular those using locally available material like roong sheets, can be used