Solar drying has a low capital investment requirement, but lower profit margins, as opposed to say, making juice. The figures below are
a rough estimate of the costs of making your first 3 months production of 1,000 bags of dried fruit. This assumes monthly production
and sales of 330 bags a month – so selling 10 bags a day. If not all bags produced are sold in the first month, this is not critical as they
can be stored for up to a year. Production can be slowed accordingly as you finish selling the first batch you have produced.
Note: Figures are in US dollars and are estimates based on figures from a Ugandan case study, Practical Action.org and supplier prices.