Can the Solar Dehydrator handle herbs with small leaves?

Question
Has anyone tried the solar deydrator from Wheaton Labs with herbs with small leaves?

Details
I want to start a side hustle drying herbs for resale. Since the sun exists, why use electric dehydrators and increase my costs? So I thought of the solar dehydrator I see here on Permies. I heard good things about it, but I worry a small leaf like oregano might get blown around and not stay on the tray. Can anyone speak to whether there are any issues with drafts and things? I am imagining opening the door and the difference in air currents just blowing a ton of oregano in my face and on the ground.

***Edit - To clarify, when using an electric dehydrator, I washed the leaves, stripped them off the stem, and then laid them out on parchment paper cut to fit the dehydrator. Individual leaves will be more likely to blow around, but I can keep the leaves whole for longer, which I believe prolongs the flavor, by not crunching them to little bits until you need to.

It probably can handle it fine, but frankly I've had good luck just hanging it upside down for a couple of days in the house.  Herbs are about the simplest things to dry.  It really doesn't take special effort.

Hi Cujo,
Thanks. Unfortunately my experience so far has been that my house is too humid in the summer/fall to dry things in a reasonable amount of time.

I use a similar home-built solar dehydrator and air currents are not an issue for lighter-leaved things, provided you don't move like a whirling dervish yourself! What IS an issue with mine, is temperature. The sun is quite powerful!

To retain potency and integrity, herbs are best dried at the lowest temps possible (most sources recommend under 110F), and during the times of year I am busiest putting up herbs, the temp inside the dehydrator is typically too high- often far too high, for herb preservation. Great for fruit leathers, poor for herbs. The best way to dry herbs for me has been one of those hanging mesh covered frames- in the darkest and driest indoor place I've got (pantry). It takes several days, but the quality of the finished product is superior in all ways.  If you do go the solar dehydrator route for your herbs, I'd make certain to get a thermometer to keep an eye on it. Nothing quite so disheartening as a lovely herbal harvest scorched. Good luck!

To retain potency and integrity, herbs are best dried at the lowest temps possible (most sources recommend under 110F)

That is really good information to know. Perhaps the solar dehydrator wouldn't be the best fit for the job. Any idea about drying garlic puree for garlic powder? Again, I have only used electric dehydrators and the cheap ones without a temp control, so I don't know exactly how hot they were drying at. The powder came out great and flavorful, but I do want to aspire to dry things in a way that will increase the likelihood of flavor lasting for the longest time.

Hmm. I don't have input as far as how heat affects garlic flavor and longevity, but so far in my journey with all the dried herbs and powders, less (heat while processing) is best. Garlic is another one of those highly medicinal foods whose potency is said to decline as processing temperatures climb. For health benefit with garlic, fresh and minimally processed appears to be best. Quite a punch to the taste buds that way though! I will typically add garlic products to dishes whenever (and in whatever form) it is called for to flavor them, then add more at the last minute if I want max health benefit.

Disclaimer: I have *not* used the W-Labs dehydrator. I have seen similar used locally, but am not sure how effective they were in our humid environment.
I used an electric dehumidifier with a heat coil which I can theoretically control, but I haven't checked temperature accuracy.

If I were to use it to dry small herbs like oregano, two things I would experiment with:
1. putting hooks in the roof of the drying compartment, then using string to hang bunches of the herbs still on the stalks at different heights, rather than putting them on shelves. This would be faster people wise, as I find stripping dried leaves off the stems goes quicker than trying to mess with tiny leaves.
2. I'd get a decent food temperature sensor of the type with a long probe. I'd takes some readings and if the temps were consistently too high, I'd try putting some sort of shade cloth over the glass or try to park the dehydrator under a plant that would provide a very dappled shade. The trick will be to get the air warm enough that you get good flow, without being so hot where the herbs are, that they are damaged. It is the warmth of the air that is doing the drying of the air, so that the air will then dry the leaves. Warm air holds more moisture.

If you want good low temperature drying, consider buying a dehumidifier. Choose a room in the house, hang the herbs and run the dehumidifier. It will warm up the room because dehumidifiers generate heat. This will sound crazy to many people who find that in the winter, they are always trying to get *more* humidity in the house, not less, because many heating systems dry the air. It took me years, and many *very* uncomfortable nights, to convince my husband we weren't living in Ontario with dry winter air and a forced air furnace. We were on the Wet Coast a mile from the ocean. I now pull back the bedding in the morning, point the output of a dehumidifier at the bed, and turn it on for 2 hours to dry the bed. Maybe not totally permie, but I can't grow food and improve the property if I can't sleep well! (A better designed house would also help, but we have what we have and moving/building/renovating isn't in the cards at the moment!)