Oil expression tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of a novel oil expeller designed and fabricated to operate on a 200W solar photovoltaic (PV) power system as a sole power source. The oil press was designed to press oilseeds meal with intermediate moisture content of 12±1% (w.b.) and 0.5–2mm particle sizes. Freshly grated coconuts and ground peanuts were used to determine the oil expression efficiency of the press. The oilseed samples were pressed for 12min with a maximum pressure of 3.0MPa being reached at 6min of pressing for peanuts and 8min of pressing for coconuts. The pressure was then held for the rest of the pressing time. The press attained an average oil expression efficiency of 73% for coconuts and 70% for peanuts. The force-vs.-deformation studies indicated that peanut press meal was compacted at a higher rate as compared to coconuts. The observation on the energy consumption indicated that there was a significant increase ( P < 0.05 ) in the specific energy requirement for both coconuts and peanuts after 6min of pressing, which resulted from the solidification of the press cake. An average specific energy of 36.55 and 20.35Wh/kg was recorded for peanuts and coconuts, respectively, after 12min of pressing.