Drying of materials is an important and essential mechanism during the production process in industries. Drying fruits and vegetables is an ancient method used for food preservation. Apart from the agricultural sector, there are many industries such as automobile, rubber, paper and pulp, sugarcane, wastewater treatment, lignite/coal, etc. require heat energy for drying during production processes. Conventional energy sources such as coal, natural gas, and electricity are used for the heat energy required for drying. Due to the increase in cost and pollution involved in conventional sources, solar energy-based drying systems can be encouraged. This review work provides a detailed analysis of solar-based dryers used in various industries namely agricultural, marine, tea, sugarcane, automobile, rubber, pulp, and paper industries. In addition, the utilization of solar energy for sewage drying, industrial waste drying, and lignite coal drying for power generation are reviewed. Different types of dryers presently available in the market are also discussed in the review work. Various parameters used for the performance of the dryers such as drying rate, amount of energy required for drying, collector efficiency, drying efficiency, specific energy consumption have been discussed. Economic, environmental, and social aspects of solar dryers are also presented, and recommendations are given in the paper.