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"Sun Scoop" Tacking Solar Cooker, 600 Watts, How Much Dehydration?

08/27/2025 1:36 AM

Earlier in the year, I used the parabolic solar reflector to steam soil and weed clippings for the garden. (Less weed seeds, fewer pathogens, and faster plant growth). From water boiling tests, I calculated that it was about 650 Watts. Now I have made a big "solar oven" for it and I have started dehydrating apples, plums, and tomatoes. The solar oven stays stationary, only the reflector moves. In theory, I should eventually be able to dehydrate as quickly as a very good home dehydrator because that is quite the amount of heat! The "Window" and the metal around it is uninsulated, and it lets heat and light into the solar oven. I have the door at the back a little bit open to let steamy air out. The solar oven contains about 125 liters of air and the idea is to shine the light in, and bring the temperature up from about 25C (ambient) to 55C which is good for drying. I don't have good drying trays set up yet, (maybe tomorrow) and so far it gets too hot, and apples often went too crispy. I need a fan with a long shaft so I can have the motor outside the oven, and the fan circulating air inside it. I don't know where to buy one or the components to make my own version. Anyway, 125 liters of air is approximately 153 grams. If 600 watts act just on that air, I calculated that it would take 11 seconds to go from 25 C to 55 C. Sounds like way too fast, and an error? I also calculated that 600 Watts would heat 14 grams by 30 C in about a second, and that means that I should be blowing air through the solar oven at a speed of about 11 to 12 liters per second. That sounds way too fast too! Of course, dehydration would be taking place and the evaporation of water will absorb a whole lot of energy, so maybe I can get away with blowing the air through at 5 or 6 liters per second? But even that sound like way too much. Can anyone give me some pointers? The size inside is a bit more than 50 cm by 50 cm by 50 cm and the door is at the back. I haven't insulated the door yet. bottom and sides are insulated with fiberglass batts. I haven't put on the outer shell yet, because I don't know where to put fans and holes for thermometer probes.

I put in the sides to hold the trays today, but I haven't made the trays yet. They will be stainless steel wire in wooden frames. Hopefully, I will get them done tomorrow.

What are your thoughts on replacing the fireplace glass in the front with aluminum mosquito screen? Just let the air in through the screen and out the back through the slightly opened oven door? That might generate a decent passive air flow? So far, I have dehydrated plenty of apples, mint, runner beans, figs and plums, but I haven't got it right yet. (mostly too hot). I have video but not many photos. I hope this isn't too incoherent. The other thing I am thinking of doing is to get some aluminum oven fake pans, paint the black and cut them up to make a square grid (like a beehive but square and open at the bottom of the cells too. That would go where the glass is now, and the idea is to have it as an air intake and also a kind of heat absorber. I think the cells would be about a cm wide, and 2 to 5 cm deep. It would be a pain to make them, but they might be good to make passive warm airflow into the solar oven. This is a tracking dehydrator, it gets pretty much the same amount of heat all day from the first rays hitting it to the last rays in the evening. I see many designs with a big glass collector over black material with the air then going to the fruit in cabinet behind. Some cabinets are higher than the collector and some lower. I get why cabinets are higher, but why lower? (Water Vapor is substantially lighter than air, so air with vapor in it will rise, not fall, when it evaporates. (Even if the air cools when it evaporates, I still think it will be lighter. Any thoughts? If I put up video it will probably end up in this playlist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC54r_g2fCk&list=PLkzXlmAwZTZdyYP35Jj9Vg5bz-n2-_QnW

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#1

Re: "Sun Scoop" tracking solar cooker, 600 watts, how much dehydration? And suggestions, please.

08/27/2025 5:55 AM

I think the reflector is overkill for just a drying application...getting the airflow just right to regulate the temperature seems rather problematic as well...I would remove the reflector for drying, and have screen on back and/or sides...

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#4
In reply to #1

Re: "Sun Scoop" tracking solar cooker, 600 watts, how much dehydration? And suggestions, please.

08/28/2025 9:01 AM

Good answer...keeping it simple.

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#5
In reply to #1

Re: "Sun Scoop" tracking solar cooker, 600 watts, how much dehydration? And suggestions, please.

08/28/2025 6:24 PM

I tried a simple set up a few years ago to dry plums into prunes, took ages, and they had a "winey" flavor that the gardening club members didn't care for. It was a perfect year for it too, no rain and all clear days. I had a 5 or 6 meter long setup on sawhorses to dry those plums. This time round, I am going for a similar speed and output to that of a home dehydrator because I have a similar or greater wattage. They operate at 50 to 65C (roughly 125 to 145F) dehydrating fruit and they have one or 2 fans. Not that much air going in and out, really. I think it is reasonable to copy them to some extent, because the physics is similar inside a house and out, this time of year.

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#2

Re: "Sun Scoop" Tacking Solar Cooker, 600 Watts, How Much Dehydration?

08/28/2025 4:39 AM

An "Oven" means baking and as you appear to want to dry fruit and vegetables, Baking is the wrong method, in my opinion.
Why not simply replace the glass door as you suggest with a mesh and put a fan in the back door to draw the heated air over the trays ?
That way the air is constantly changing so no steam problems and by mounting the fan in the door you have a outlet for the moist air to escape without a complicated remote motor and long shafts to drive the fan !
The trays should also be made of a mesh type, not solid sheets of Stainless steel. This will give more area for the air to circulate and will allow a greater area of the fruit / vegetable to dry evenly.
At the temperatures you are taking about you could use Bamboo instead of steel for the drying trays.

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#7
In reply to #2

Re: "Sun Scoop" Tacking Solar Cooker, 600 Watts, How Much Dehydration?

08/28/2025 7:13 PM

I used to dry mint in an oven set on low, but the minty smell through the house made my eyes water. So, oven is an ok word, I think. The experiment is ongoing, I ordered stainless steel wire mesh, and made trays yesterday. Weather turned cloudy, so I only filled one of them. 4 trays now, but I have to order more wire mesh for the next 4. (I didn't know what the quality would be, or how much spacing I needed, so I didn't order the full amount). Who knows, maybe 4 is enough. Maybe I could keep the old trays for doing herbs and for making fruit leather or for drips from juicy stuff. I think it is reasonable to have a fan with a thermostat, and to have something with a thermostat on the door too that will open it a little bit more if it gets too hot. Like they have on greenhouses but adjustable and with far less swing.

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#3

Re: "Sun Scoop" Tacking Solar Cooker, 600 Watts, How Much Dehydration?

08/28/2025 9:00 AM

Why not repurpose an old storm window? They have a moveable section to expose a screen portion and one of the glass panels can be removed and replaced by screen if necessary. This would allow control over evaporation rate and temperature.

The frame that SE suggested would be a good form factor for this.

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#6
In reply to #3

Re: "Sun Scoop" Tacking Solar Cooker, 600 Watts, How Much Dehydration?

08/28/2025 6:52 PM

A storm window doesn't track the sun, so the heat input will vary a lot over the day. Also, I have already built the thing, I am not going to throw it out, and start over afresh with something simpler that has less output. The trays have 14 1/2 inches by 17 1/2 inches of mesh. I have room for 8 but stainless steel wire for 4. No sun today, so I won't be filling the empty trays till tomorrow. The goal is to dehydrate my windfall apples, most of the plums and a bunch of green runner beans, learn stuff, and make it better. As a solar cooker, this thing could boil off 2 liters of water in a few hours when I was steaming soil. It should reasonably be expected to dry fruit and vegetables pretty quickly too.

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