NUR DANIA QISTINA BINTI MOHD JAFRI SMK ASSUNTA
Majority, Malaysians especially those who live in high-rise residential areas use the conventional method (under sun drying) to dry clothes; giving the clothes a higher chance of being exposed to polluted air and high temperature, causes the clothes to easily become worn out and increases the chances of the clothes to fall off from the balcony. In addition, some high-rise residential areas are prohibited from hanging clothes on the balcony as they could get fined. Hanging the clothes indoors increases the room's humidity and causes the clothes to become smelly. Therefore, we proposed a clothes dryer that uses PV-Solar technology as well as utilizing the hot air in its surroundings that ventilates in the dryer to dry out the clothes. Solar energy from the sunlight is absorbed by the PV cells in the panel. It creates electrical charges that move in response to an internal electric field in the cell, causing electricity to flow. This Smart Solar Clothes Dryer is also estimated to dry out about 30 pieces of adult-size clothing within 6 hours. Other than that, this Smart Solar Clothes Dryer is also easy to assemble and disassemble whenever needed which it is very convenient to be used by people who live in a high-rise residential area. An improvement had been made to this solar dryer in which it had been equipped with a humidity detector and, a smart WIFI coordinated switch, which helps users to track the humidity level in the solar dryer and able to switch the power on or off of the solar dryer whenever they wish. This solar dryer is also equipped with an auto photodetector to allow the solar panels to move according to the position of the sunlight to increase the absorption of sunlight by the solar panels. This Smart Solar Clothes Dryer offers better and more eco-friendly alternatives for drying clothes for low-income families and youngsters.
Keywords: Drying clothes, Hot air ventilation, Smart technology, High-rise residential area, PV Solar technology