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• Bifacial PVT Greenhouse dryer with PCM is designed and developed. • The operating hours and performance of the dryer with PCM are improved. • North wall insulation with aluminium foil is used for better performance. • MOGA-ANN methods have been used to explore the performance of PVT dryer. A greenhouse dryer is the most economical and environmentally friendly device used to dry various products like fruits, vegetables and meats. The operating hours and heat losses from the north wall are the main concerns for its performance. To minimize the heat losses and improve the operating hours, the present study is undertaken on a modified hybrid greenhouse dryer with a thermal energy storage system and a bifacial photovoltaic thermal for electrical (BIFPVT) and thermal energy. A thermocol was wrapped in an aluminium foil (As a reflector) and placed on the north wall to minimize energy losses. The integration of PCM made the system sustainable to use while off sunshine hours as it stores the thermal energy during daytime. It was observed that the BIFPVT system provided electrical power ranging from 2.0 to 85.5 W and 0.6–81 W with respect to solar radiation intensity on the front (I F) and rear (I R) side of BIFPVT which varied from 34–950 W/m2 and 13–350 W/m2, respectively. The drying room temperature was found to be 16–44% higher than the ambient temperature for both days. Further, the experiment result was trained using an artificial neural network and optimized with the help of multi-objective genetic algorithm tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• North wall insulated PCM-BIFPVT integrated greenhouse dryer (MHGD) was developed. • A detailed comparison of MHGD has been made with the PVT dryer. • The thermal and electrical efficiency of MHGD has been explored experimentally. • A comparison of computational data with experimental results has been carried out. In Covid19, it was observed that dehydrated commodity (fruits, vegetables, meat, etc.) was the most sustainable because of their long life and availability. The stored product market grew very fast after Covid19. It was predicted that the dehydrated circular economy would be the future of food demand and supply. The greenhouse dryer (GD) was the most economical and environmentally viable among various drying techniques. However, the problem associated with GD was low operating hours, sustainability, heat loss from the North wall, and operation after sunset. The present study incorporated a bifacial photovoltaic thermal (BIFPVT) on the roof, Lauric acid as a phase change material (PCM), and an aluminium foil-wrapped thermocol (Polystyrene foam) on the north wall of the GD as an insulation to overcome the above-said problem. The thermal efficiency of the modified greenhouse dryer was found to be lie in the range of 26–54%. In contrast, the electrical efficiency was found to be 20.1%. The integration of the thermal energy storage (TES) system runs the system even after sunset and improves the operation hours. The designed system not only makes the system self-sustainable but also mitigates 3136 kg of CO 2 in its whole life span. The modified TES can further improve the thermal performance of the GD. A PCM-integrated BIFPVT greenhouse dryer is recommended for cleaner production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]