Agricultural solar air collectors: Design and performances

Abstract Several types of solar air collectors made from plastic film can be used for drying operations on the farm (fodder, fruit, grain, etc.). Four types of collector are discussed as well as a ventilated horticultural greenhouse. The purpose of this article is to give detailed thermal models for these collectors and to compare their respective performance. The solution of these models gives the values of the parameters used in Duffie-Beckman flat-plate collector theory.