I guess you could say my contribution to Earth Day this year is my new homemade Solar Dehydrator.
I made it a five tray because the trays are so big I figured I didn't need any more than that. If so I have some material left over to make more.
Nope, I never found the little solar panel I was looking for so I bought another one. $14 bucks at Harbor Freight for a 3 watt panel I guess is okay. It runs a small fan that pulls the heated air through the windows and up into the dehydrator box.
There are also heat absorbing metal plates inside the window triangle to help out.
This morning I filled it with Basil, Chives and Cilantro. The fan kicked on at 9:30 AM and should stop around 7:00 PM. There is no battery, just the power from the sun.
Total build cost, $35.00 for the solar panel, metal screen material and the 1X2 boards for the shelves. Everything else was junk I had laying around.
Unlike a direct solar dehydrator, this one will take a little longer to dry the herbs but will hold in more of the color and flavor that would have been lost through direct sun dehydration.
