1Department of Agricultural Engineering, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib-140407, Punjab
2Department of Dairy Engineering, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab
3Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab
*Corresponding author email id: mukulsain95@gmail.com
Abbreviations: KW/m2 = Kilowatt/square meter; NDDB = National Dairy Development Board; MT = Million Tons; Km2 = Square Kilometer; GW = Gigawatt; CFL = Compact Fluorescent Lamp; l = litre
The dairy and food processing operations consume a lot of thermal energy for which mainly conventional energy sources are used, which lead to environmental pollution and contributing to the factors responsible for climate change. To overcome this problem, renewable energy resources, especially solar energy can be the best option as India has an abundance of sunshine for around 300–330 days/year with an average intensity of 5–7 KW/m2. Solar energy has wide applications in various dairy and food processing operations like heating, steam generation, cooling, transportation, lighting, drying, etc. Along with multiple applications, this paper explores the current researches and needs to develop solar technologies so that it can be effectively used for various operations in the dairy and food industries.
Dairy, Food, Processing, Renewable, Solar, Sustainable development
