SEED: Solar Energy for A Better Life

Society for Energy, Environment and Development came into being in 1987. The NGO works in the area of spreading awareness about environmental issues and creating devices to enhance the quality of life. SEED has invented the solar powered solar air dryer. It has been designed by Prof M Ramakrishna Rao, founder and general secretary of SEED and a solar energy technologist.

The NGO is engaged in food processing technologies using solar dryers and also in the marketing of solar dried products. SEED also sets up micro-enterprises in solar food processed products in rural areas.

Patented by the Indian Patents Office, solar food processing is a technology developed by SEED for the purpose of dehydrating fruits, vegetables, forest produce, spices and sea-food to the permissible moisture limits. It leads to enhanced preservation and increases their shelf life, meeting the international cleanliness standards. The solar dryers run with zero energy cost without tempering with the important nutrients that are often wasted in drying processes.

Solar dryers are used in micro-enterprises for solar food processing. This has ushered in a wave of change in the village population. The enterprises have led to the self employment for small farmers, escalated incomes in rural areas and sensitised people about the advantages of using solar energy.   
SEED carries out drying of fruits, vegetables, forest produce like gumkaraya (edible gum), spices, food items, medicinal and herbs using solar dryers. “The solar powered solar air dryer has the capacity to evaporate 15kg of water per day from the processing of food and the loading capacity of 50kg of maximum of wet products. The loading capacities of food products in the solar dryer range from small scale to commercial scale, depending on the density of wet product and on the size and number of dryers,” explains Dr Rao.

These items are pretreated with processes, preservatives, chemicals, additives basing on the established food practices in food technology. The procedures are tested and compared with other procedures and finally arrived at the methods most suitable at operational levels and economically cost effective.
The laboratory has successfully processed 50 items, in agri-horticultural products. Fruits like guavas, mangoes etc dried by the solar dryers are converted into fruit bars.

The NGO conducts several workshops to facilitate setting up of food processing units in rural areas. “Training programmes have been conducted for women for upgradation of skills and know-how of processing of food products for the last four years. Around 1,000 women entrepreneurs have been trained in a variety of foods in the dehydration process. The trainees are Self Help Groups, NGOs, women’s organisations, and private entrepreneurs,” says Dr Rao.

Article by Sharon Huda and published in the Solar Energy Review - http://serindiaonline.com