The solar air heater was 46 m(2) and recorded a maximum temperature of 76.6 degrees C. The dryer was loaded with 200 kg of fresh pineapple slices 5 mm thick. The initial moisture content of 82% was reduced to the desired level (<10%) within 8 h. The performance of the dryer was analyzed in detail by three methods namely annualized cost, present worth of annual savings, and present worth of cumulative savings. The cost of drying 1 kg pineapple worked out to Rs. 11 which was roughly half of that of an electric dryer. The payback period worked out to 0.54 year, much less than the estimated life of the system (20 years). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.