Identifying the effective factors on implementing the solar dryers for Yazd province, Iran

Solar energy is a kind of entirely free, clean, and renewable energy resource that has been used in many countries. One of the solar thermal energy applications is solar dryer, which is usually used to dry agricultural and food products. Various types of solar dryers have been designed and manufactured in the past. Different factors are effective in the process of designing, constructing and using solar dryers in different regions. The purpose of this study is to identify the effective factors and risks which may impact on the use of solar dryers. In this research work, data for Yazd province in Iran was used for analysis. Factor Analysis (FA) methodology was performed using SPSS software; a questionnaire was designed to collect the data and finally the validity and the reliability of acquired data was investigated. Results of analysis reveal that there are six major factors and three risk types impacting the process of designing, constructing and implementation of solar dryer systems in the province.