The food industry is responsible for supplying the food demand of the ever-increasing global population. The food chain is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and global food waste accounts for one-third of produced food. A solution to this problem is preserving crops, vegetables, and fruits with the help of an ancient method of sun drying. For drying agricultural and marine products, several types of dryers are also being developed. However, they require a large amount of energy supplied conventionally from pollutant energy sources. The environmental concerns and depletion risks of fossil fuels persuade researchers and developers to seek alternative solutions. To perform drying applications, sustainable solar power may be effective because it is highly accessible in most regions of the world. Greenhouse dryers (GHDs) are simple facilities that can provide large capacities for drying agricultural products. This study reviews the integration of GHDs with different solar technologies, including photovoltaic (PV), photovoltaic-thermal (PVT), and solar thermal collectors. Additionally, the integration of solar-assisted greenhouse dryers (SGHDs) with heat pumps and thermal energy storage (TES) units, as well as their hybrid configuration considering integration with other renewable energy sources, is investigated to improve their thermal performance. In this regard, this review presents and discusses the most recent advances in this field. Additionally, the economic analysis of SGHDs is presented as a key factor to make these sustainable facilities commercially available.

中文翻译：

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太阳能温室干燥机技术设计及热性能提升的最新进展

食品工业负责满足不断增长的全球人口的食品需求。食物链是温室气体 (GHG) 排放的主要贡献者之一，全球食物浪费占所生产食物的三分之一。解决这个问题的方法是借助一种古老的晒干方法来保存农作物、蔬菜和水果。为了干燥农产品和海产品，还开发了几种类型的干燥机。然而，它们需要从传统的污染能源供应大量能量。化石燃料的环境问题和枯竭风险促使研究人员和开发商寻求替代解决方案。为了进行干燥应用，可持续太阳能可能是有效的，因为它在世界大部分地区都很容易获得。温室干燥机 (GHD) 是一种简单的设施，可为干燥农产品提供大容量。本研究回顾了 GHD 与不同太阳能技术的集成，包括光伏 (PV)、光伏热 (PVT) 和太阳能集热器。此外，研究了太阳能辅助温室干燥机 (SGHD) 与热泵和热能储存 (TES) 单元的集成，以及考虑与其他可再生能源集成的混合配置，以提高其热性能。在这方面，本综述介绍并讨论了该领域的最新进展。此外，SGHD 的经济分析被认为是使这些可持续设施商业化的关键因素。