The U.S. solar Tobacco barn to save time and money

Proved conducted at the University of Virginia and South Carolina Florence Clemson University PeeDee Agricultural Research and Extension Center, the use of solar energy for the tobacco curing process to increase accuracy, and has been proved to be a saving of time and money method. Modern tobacco production often is a time and labor-intensive. The tobacco baked can make or break the quality and profits of the tobacco crop.

Baked accounted for about 20% of the variable costs and 15% of total tobacco production cost. Tobacco barn in North Carolina Long the tobacco barn Company (LTBC) developed a new hybrid energy, the use of solar and propane, is a bright spot in the Pee Dee Station in tobacco fields day. In the tobacco field day speech, Clemson researcher Russell Henderson said: "have an insulated barn currently used tobacco barn solar energy barn sidewall or roof insulation layer; Instead, it has a collection solar heat air bags. prototype of the solar barn when you walked in the midday temperature significantly higher than the traditional tobacco barn. " In the solar barn, the air from the bottom of the side wall of the barn four weeks into the barn. The air passes through the air bag, back around the barn barn. This can be captured into the solar heating of the air bag of the air, and any heat dissipated in the barn. A new standard tobacco barn cost about $ 36,000, while the price of the same size solar barn is estimated to be $ 35,000.


Many persons love to smoke Pall Mall cigarettes,  Kent cigarettes, Parliament cigarettes .

Hope, there will be approximately $ 7,000 federal tax credit, so that the solar barn once to enter the market, then the net cost should be slightly lower than the standard barn. Bob Pope, owner and general manager of North Carolina of State E Qikang County LTBC attend a tobacco field day activities, and provide more technical details of the solar tobacco barn. The walls and ceilings around the barn the solar collector heat after the black corrugated steel collector plates directly into the barn passive work. Propane into the barn barn with fresh air, it can furnace preheated before active work, "Pope said. LTBC the barn not only use free solar energy, also confirmed that it can shorten the baking time tobacco. This is accomplished through the barn wrapped in a solar air collector. In the sunny days, the solar collector barn to keep the thermostat up to 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Promotion of the Virginia Tech University agronomist David Reed, in the past three years, the efficiency of solar barn baking studies, in particular, the amount of fuel used by the tobacco baked pound test. And baked efficiency 29%
Although the the average Virginia researchers use the fuel is reduced by about 25%, but he said, "The 2009 data show that 7 baked, grilled sales increased by an average of 29%." Planting tobacco in North Carolina, near Robertson Virgin Clive Kerr talked about the solar barn said, "I think twice, but we end up using it," Kerr said. "Compared with the standard barn barn baked bright, clean tobacco ahead of a day and a half's time," he added. Farm is located in Lawrenceville, Virginia Wallace, Roberts said, "We are up to 35% fuel savings with our solar barn, we can save 12-24 hours, we can more tobacco barn . " The implementation of the tobacco buyout in 2004, a sharp decline in tobacco production in the southeastern many farmers, especially those planted smaller farms, abandon the cultivation of this crop. However, in the past few years, the American tobacco demand in Europe and Asia for high-quality tobacco area has been restored, but did not resume before the buyout, but in recent years, production in the steady growth. Experts think that the planting of this year up to 70 percent of the tobacco grown in North Carolina and Virginia will be exported.

The overseas buyers formulated strict safety regulations, which indicate the need for more accurate tobacco production process, from the beginning of the production process to the end. Tobacco baking has always been considered an art rather than a science, but the new law provides that in a more precise development of the industry, and economic aspects point to a more cost-conscious industry, both show that the solar tobacco barn The future is very bright. The tobacco industry is slightly different, entrepreneurs like the Pope, his life engaged in the tobacco business, and that technology will play a more important role in tobacco production, mainly because most of the tobacco production by larger farm production. The end of the 2004 federal tobacco price support program, that area growers to get rid of the restrictions, revocation of financial support to help stabilize tobacco prices artificially high.
The original idea to build solar tobacco barn is caused by the energy crisis of the 1970s. Pope was a North Carolina State University architecture students, he drafted the initial plan for the solar tobacco barn.

After graduation, in 1978 and 1979, the Pope construction of six wooden the demo frame and small box solar barn to prove this concept. However, when the barn market saturation, demand new style barn Pope. After two years of research with the University of Virginia three years of research, as well as in South Carolina Pee Dee Research Center (Pee Dee Research Center), learned some lessons last modified integration to solar barn Pope said production mode. "We have learned one thing through the entire barn fresh air through the open side wall into the bottom of the air entering from the back of the collector than the air coming from the front." "This led to the use of heated air to the collector is not sufficient we will correct the defects of barn production mode." Pope said, to the next year, the solar tobacco barn may be ready for commercial application.