Knowledge of atmospheric turbidity coefficients is very important in meteorology, climatology, atmospheric pollution monitoring, and in the prediction of solar energy availability under cloudless skies. This paper provides a thorough review on a number of atmospheric turbidity indices and on the...

One of the most important factors affecting the attenuation of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface under cloudless sky conditions is the presence of aerosol particles. A direct measurement of the aerosol transmittance is not possible due to the strong influence of the other atmospheric...

Intensive explorations of different alternatives and renewable energy resources are currently being conducted worldwide. Pico-hydro power is at the forefront of these options because it is considered as the most cost-effective renewable energy option to provide electricity for rural areas, and...

Over the past three decades there has been nearly exponential growth in drying R&D on a global scale. Improving of the drying operation to save energy, improve product quality as well as reduce environmental effect remained as the main objectives of any development of drying system. A solar...

The use of nanofluids for cooling is an attracting considerable attention in various industrial applications. Compared with conventional fluids, nanofluids improve the heat transfer rate, as well as the optical properties, thermal properties, efficiency, and transmission and extinction...

Drying for agricultural and marine products are one of the most attractive and cost-effective application of solar energy. Numerous types of solar dryers have been designed and developed in various parts of the world, yielding varying degrees of technical performance. Basically, there are four...

Thermal energy storage is one of the most efficient ways to store solar energy for heating air by energy collected from sun. The relative studies are involved to the type of collection with the type of storage, i.e. separated to each other or integrated. This review summarizes the previous works...

This paper presents the design of an experimental solar assisted dryer for palm oil fronds. The system consists of collector, a dryer, an auxiliary burner and a fan. The collector is of the double-pass configuration with porous media in the lower channel. The dryer is of the batch type where hot...

The performance of a new design of non-metallic unglazed solar water heater integrated with a storage system has been studied. In this system, the collector and storage were installed in one unit. All parts of the system have been fabricated from fiberglass reinforced polyester (GFRP) using a...

Desiccant material has been used in drying applications because of its low energy consumption, among other advantages. Desiccant material can produce hot and dry air that is beneficial for the drying process. The advantages of using desiccant material in a drying system include continuous drying...