Design and construction of a hybrid pedal and solar operated chemical sprayer for coffee.

Abstract

There is an ongoing need for an alternative source of power to meet the demands of today’s world that is cost effective and friendly to the environment. Solar is free, omnipresent, inexhaustible and non-polluting to the environment. The abundance and availability of solar energy in the sub-Saharan African countries for instance Uganda cannot be taken for granted. However, over years, it has been underutilized despite the many uses it can be put to namely Agriculture and domestic use. A 2017 report from the International Energy Agency shows that solar has become the world’s fastest growing source of power, marking the first time that solar energy’s growth has surpassed that of all other fuels. Uganda is endowed with 5 − 6 𝑘𝑊ℎ/𝑚2 radiation per day on flat surfaces. The insolation is highest at the Equator. However, varies up to a maximum of 20% from place to place away from the Equator, the dryer areas (north-east) have highest temperatures and lowest in the mountainous areas (south-west) of the country. Cloudy weather influences solar radiation. Temperature variations throughout the year are little making it easy to use solar power as an alternative source of renewable energy. (William et al., 2018)