Life cycle assessment and economic valuation of a natural convection solar greenhouse dryer in Western Maharashtra, India

The current study focuses on the life cycle assessment and an economic valuation of a natural convection solar greenhouse dryer in Western Maharashtra, India. The Solar Greenhouse Dryer is an active device that gains solar radiation incident on to the surface of the dryer and along with wind energy, it removes moisture from agricultural yield. The combination of solar Energy and wind energy removes moisture from agricultural yield. The Solar Greenhouse Dryer is primarily used in rural settings; hence, it is very important to analyse the environmental and economic aspects associated with the dryer to obtain the maximum benefit from the dryer with less investment possible. The experiment involving a natural convection solar dryer was conducted at Bahe, Borgaon, Tal-Walwa, Dist- Sangli, Maharashtra, India located at 17.115° N and 74.33° E. The environmental parameters taken into considerations during the analysis covered energy, Energy payback time and CO2 emissions, mitigation and carbon credits earned by the dryer. The economic analysis of the solar dryer consists of the annual cost of the dryer, the salvage value, the annual saving obtained and the payback period respectively. The embodied energy of the solar greenhouse dryer considering all the components of the dryer is 238.317 kWh, the energy payback time is 0.588 years and CO2 emissions are 24.327 kg per year, the carbon dioxide mitigation is 2.042 kg per kWh and the carbon credits earned by the dryer are nearly 28, 600. The annual cost of the dryer is Rs. 21, 600, the salvage value of the dryer is Rs. 7, 160, the annual savings obtained from the dryer are Rs. 1,62, 574 and the payback period is around 2 years respectively. The Solar Greenhouse Dryer is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution that can effectively be used in rural settings by farmers to prevent various post-harvest losses associated with the agricultural yield and to gain extra additional income from the dried products.