About a month ago, [Greenhill Forge] built a few solar panels to collect energy from the sun. Unlike solar photovoltaics, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, these were designed to gather solar thermal energy with air. These types of panels can gather a tremendous amount of energy for a very low cost, and although the first video only went into the theory of their operation, his latest video actually shows us how to use that energy in a practical way.
The video starts by building a new solar panel, using upgraded materials and building methods compared to the previous versions which should improve the efficiency. There’s some data analysis of the performance, but at the end of the video [Greenhill Forge] actually hooks one of these up to a clothes dryer to explore its real-world efficacy. This process involves disconnecting the electric heater, removing one of the blower fans, and building a new flange to accept the heated air from the solar panel. A microcontroller keeps an eye on the incoming air temperature and controls a fan to try to hit the target temperature.
After an hour of drying, the test clothing was completely dry, with the only electricity used to turn the drum in the dryer. This is more than an order of magnitude of reduction in the power needed to dry clothes, which is fairly impressive. [Greenhill Forge] also notes that systems like these could augment off-grid systems not only for clothes drying but for home heating, greenhouse heating, or drying out various crops and that they could reduce strain on an electrical system that otherwise relies on resistive heating methods. There are many ways of building these panels, so be sure to check out his first video for ideas.

Or you could just hand your clothes on a line out in the sun?
“Any humidity level above 70% is too high for line drying clothes. At this threshold, the air is too saturated to absorb moisture efficiently. For optimal results and to prevent a musty smell, it is best to aim for a relative humidity below 60% ”
Where I live average humidity by month:
January: 76% February: 73% March: 75% April: 74% May: 75% June: 78% July: 79% August: 78% September: 77% October: 75% November: 75% December: 76%
So good luck line drying here.
“with the only electricity used to turn the drum in the dryer.” How are the microcontroller and fan powered?
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