Design of Electric Resource for Solar Tunnel Dryer for Night and Cloudy Condition

In Indonesia, corn (Zea mays) is an important food ingredient after rice. In several regions, the Indonesian population depends on corn to meet their food needs. Tubers such as ginger and turmeric for health drinks or cooking spices can also be dried using this method. Effective processing of dried food using a solar tunnel dryer (STD) is an important part of increasing economic value. STD design with criteria including materials that are easy to obtain, easy to maintain, easy to modify and easy to remove for moving. The expected target from implementing this activity is to obtain a Solar Tunnel Dryer that can function properly and can function for 24 hours. In a solar tunnel dryer, hot air from the heat collector space tends to move towards the white area slowly, because it only relies on the difference in air pressure. So a push fan is needed to circulate hot air more quickly. The use of solar tunnel dryers is only limited to daytime use. If grains or tubers are dried for more than a day, they will pass through the night. At that time the air temperature will be cold and have the potential to humidify the cooling room. The temperature is maintained using heating from incandescent light bulbs during the night. Electrical energy can be obtained using solar power. Solar power is used to provide energy supply to the heat distribution fan and light the incandescent lights during the night period. The total number of solar panels with a capacity of 50 WP used is 4 units. The batteries used are 2 units with a capacity of 100 AH each for a load of 10 incandescent lamps with capacity of 15 watt. The light on time is around 12 hours. With these facilities, the solar tunnel drier system can function 24 hours.