Performance test of Parabolic Trough Solar Cooker for indoor cooking

Abstract

Fuel-wood scarcity is a growing problem that has so far been poorly addressed. Solar cooking is one possible solution but its acceptance has been limited partially due to low performance and convenience of use of most of the solar cookers that currently are available. The objective of this research is to test the performance of a solar cooker based on concentrating collector and increase its temperature and performance. Parabolic trough cooker (PTC) was constructed in a way allowing cooking to be done indoors, which the cooking sections were placed indoor whiles the collector parts out-door with soya bean oil conveying the energy from the absorber to the cooking stove. Ray tracing and standard stagnation tests show a 30 mm diameter copper pipe is the optimum size for the absorber. Maximum temperatures of 191⁰C at the mid absorber pipe and 119⁰C at the cooking stove were obtained. The efficiency of the system was found to be 6%.