Solar dryers can be cost effective because relatively unskilled village artisans can
construct, operate and maintain the dryers at minimum cost and that cheap and locally
available materials can be used for the construction [2]. However, choosing the
geometry of the dryer and the materials for construction requires the use of physical
and biological sciences through computer simulations [6]. Simulation enables the
researcher to evaluate the performance of the solar dryer before actual production
of the prototype and experimentation is done. If simulation is combined with optimization, the researcher is able to design a cost effective solar dryer, that is, a solar
dryer with minimum cost and maximum drying rate within given constraints