Solar tent dryer (Lake Malawi)
A UV-treated polythene sheet over a wooden frame shelters internal drying racks, with low inlets and high side vents for natural airflow during fish drying.
Built structures · Drying kilns and dryers
FAO A-frame solar tent dryer
A low-cost, direct solar tent with a black back and ground, a clear front and roof, a raised mesh platform and high exhaust holes. The FAO manual for Afghanistan describes its construction.
What it is
The FAO A-frame solar tent is a light direct solar dryer. A black sheet forms the back and the ground, a clear sheet covers the sun side and the roof, and the product sits on a raised mesh platform inside. Air enters under a roll-up rail and leaves through high holes in the end panels, so the tent is ventilated by its own shape.
It is one member of the tent family. The FAO manual describes it for Afghanistan's fruit and vegetables, and the Lake Malawi fish dryer is another build in the same family. The two are separate records, because the same frame is not the same as a process for a given food.
How it dries
Sunlight passes through the clear sheet and warms the black back and ground, which warms the air inside. Warm air rises and leaves through the high exhaust holes, and cooler outside air enters the low inlet under the rail. The moisture from the product leaves with the exhaust air.
The manual warns that without this ventilation, condensation forms and the produce will not dry. The inlet and the exhaust are therefore the working parts of the design, not decoration. FAO's small-scale dryer guidance notes that the light structure is not suited to strong wind and that a mud-walled dryer is a different type.
Building it and what it does not give
The FAO sequence is to cross and bury the side beams, fix the black sheet to the rear and ground, fix the clear sheet to the front and sides, leave the roughly 10 cm gap under the rolling rail, cut the high exits, and assemble the platform. The manual does not specify fasteners, saws, drilling, film tension or anchorage, so those are the builder's choices.
The manual gives a 1.3 m side beam but no footprint, ridge height, pitch, vent area, mesh opening or film thickness. The illustration shows the form and is not a drawing to scale. A build guide needs a measured example, or a labelled adaptation with its own dimensions.
History
The lightweight A-frame tent is described in Home-based Fruit and Vegetable Processing in Afghanistan, a manual edited for the FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. A later FAO page treats the tent as one of several small-scale dryers.
Site
SettingOpen ground in sun, with the clear face toward the sun.
GroundThe side beams are buried. The manual gives no depth, and the embedment has to suit local soil.
ClimateDesigned for sunny drying. The light frame should be sheltered from strong wind or replaced with a sturdier design, according to FAO.
FootprintNot given. The illustration is not dimensioned and the manual gives no footprint or ridge height.
NotesThe record describes the topology from the FAO manual. Any proportion taken from the illustration is an editorial reconstruction.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Condensation and no drying
Without ventilation, condensation builds up and produce does not dry, according to the FAO manual.
Hazard sourceStrong wind
The light structure is not suited to strong winds, so it can be damaged or blown over.
Hazard sourceKeep the low inlet open and cut the high exhaust openings
Control sourceShelter the tent or choose a sturdier design in windy sites
Control sourceThe FAO manual covers fruit and vegetables. Its architecture does not validate a fish or meat process.
Use food-contact mesh for the platform. A light frame does not excuse a non-food-contact mesh.
Materials
- Crossed side beams, 1.3 m — Cross the beams at the top to form the A-frame and bury their lower ends in the ground.
- Black plastic sheet — Fix to the rear wall and the ground under the tent as the absorber.
- Clear plastic sheet — Fix over the sun-facing front and side and over the roof.
- Roll-up front rail — Set about 10 cm above the ground so it forms the low air inlet and can be rolled up for access.
- Platform legs and frame — Wooden frame that carries the product above the absorber.
- Mesh or thin wooden laths — Lay across the platform frame to hold the product.
- Cross the two side beams and bury their lower ends to fix the A-frame.
- Fix the black sheet to the rear wall and to the ground beneath the tent.
- Fix the clear sheet to the sun-facing front and to the side panels.
- Leave a gap of about 10 cm under the roll-up rail to form the low inlet.
- Cut the exit openings high in the triangular side panels.
- Assemble the platform legs and frame, then lay mesh or thin wooden laths on the frame.
Places
Afghanistan
Documented use · Country evidenceThe manual is written for fruit and vegetable processing in Afghanistan. It does not establish that every tent in the country follows this design.
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Same method
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Sources
FAOMethod · Safety · History
Home-based Fruit and Vegetable Processing in Afghanistan: A Manual for Field Workers and Trainers, Annex 2 Solar dryingLightweight A-frame tent with a 1.3 m side beam and crossed upright beams; black rear and ground, clear sun side and roof, raised mesh platform.
Inlet about 10 cm above ground under a roll-up rail; exit holes high in the triangular side panels.
Without ventilation, condensation builds and produce does not dry.
Cited in: What it is; How it dries; Building it and what it does not give
FAOSafety · History
FAO small-scale dryersThe light tent should not be used in strong winds; a mud-wall dryer is a separate family.
Cited in: How it dries