RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN SOLAR COOKERS

ANAM MUKTHARSHAIVYA MANHAS

SYED RABIA

M. Tech. (Renewable Energy) Department of Energy Management

SHRI MATA VAISHNO DEVI UNIVERSITY , KAKRYAL, KATRA , J&K

ENERGY IN INDIA : CLIMATE CONTEXT

Consumes 3.7% of the world’s commercial energy : 5th largest

consumer of energy globally.

Energy consumption set to triple (1936 Mtoe) by 2030 (IEA 2007).

Power plants emit 0.94 kg CO2 per kwh : 50% higher than world

on average.

9-13% loss to GDP by 2100 in comparison to non- climatic change

scenario (CDP 2007:12).

RENEWABLE ENERGY POTENTIAL OF INDIA

5th largest power generation portfolio.

5th largest wind energy producer.

Wind energy potential of 102.8 GW.

Hydro energy potential of 19.7 GW.

Bio Power potential of 22.5 GW.

Solar power potential of 6 GW.

175 GW of solar power by 2022.

INSTALLED SOLAR POWER CAPACITY IN INDIA

1) RAJASTHAN:

•Total photovoltaic capacity 1264.35 MW.

2) GUJARAT:

The total solar power capacity 1024.15 MW.

• Asia’s largest solar park at Charanka village.

2 MW solar power.

3) ANDHRA PRADESH:

•Installed photovoltaic capacity 357.34 MW.

4) MADHYA PRADESH:

• The total solar power is 678.58 MW.

SOLAR COOKING & ITS HISTORY

• An important domestic thermal application is cooking.

• Solar Cooking actually has starting with the documented efforts of French-

Swiss Physicist Horace de Saussure in 1767. 

• 1200s -Roman Empire people have sun-dried fruits, vegetables, fish and meats

to preserve them.

• 1600s- A German physicist, E.W. von made large lenses to boil water in a clay

pot.

• 1930s- India began to investigate solar energy as a substitute for dwindling

wood and depletion of soil from burning crop residues and dung .

• 1945- Indian pioneer Sri M. K. Ghosh designed the first solar box cooker to be

commercially produced .

WHAT IS A SOLAR COOKER ?

• It is a device which is used

directly under sun light to

cook foods, without using

any conventional fuel like

LPG, kerosene.

Concentrating type solar

cooker is efficient than box

type solar cooker because in

concentrating solar cooker the

absorber area is smaller than

the collector area this results in

less heat transfer loss from the

absorber area, while in box

type solar cooker the absorber

area is equal to the collector

area this results in significant

heat transfer losses.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOLAR COOKERS

BOX TYPE SOLAR COOKER• Mainly for boiling type of cooking

• Cooking temperature=1000C (approx.)

• Quantities of heat required for physical &

chemical changes involved in cooking are

small compared to the sensible heat of

increasing food temp. & energy required

for meeting heat losses that normally

occur in cooking.

• No control over temp. & operation is

transient

COMPONENTS OF BOX TYPE SOLAR COOKER

Thermal insulation for the solar box cooker

must be able to withstand temperatures up to

100 °C without melting or out-gassing.

Crumpled newspaper, wool, rags, dry grass,

cardboard can be used to insulate the walls

of the cooker.

Metal pots can be darkened either with flat-

black spray paint , black tempera paint.

The solar box cooker typically reaches a

temperature of 100 °C.

WORKING OF BOX TYPE SOLAR COOKER

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

MULTI REFLECTOR SOLAR COOKER

•Solar cooker with multiple

reflectors has an advantage over

the one with single reflector

from the view point of fast

cooking.

•It captures much of the diffused

radiations and increase the

radiation concentration.

PARABOLIC TYPE SOLAR COOKER

• In this type, the sun’s radiations

converge at a point where the cooking

utensil is kept.

• The utensil gets heated up and cooks the

food.

HISTORY OF PARABOLIC SOLAR COOKERS

• The first solar parabolic cooker was developed by Ghai in the

early 1950s at the National Physical Laboratory, in India.

• Lof and Fester investigated various geometries & mounting

configuration of parabolic cookers.

COMPONENTS OF PARABOLIC SOLAR COOKER

WORKING OF PARABOLIC SOLAR COOKER

ADVANTAGES

BOX TYPE SOLAR COOKER

PARABOLIC TYPE SOLAR COOKER

Conventional solar box

cooker attains a temperature

of 80-110 oC.

They can sterilize H2O or

prepare most foods that can

be made in conventional

oven / stove, including

bread, vegetables, meat

over a period of hours.

High performance parabolic

solar cookers attain a

temperature of 220oC.

They can be used to grill

meats, stir-fry vegetables,

make soup, bake bread, boil

H2O in minutes.

DISADVANTAGES• Solar cookers are less useful in cloudy weather and near the poles (where

the sun is low in the sky or below the horizon).

• Some solar cookers, especially solar ovens, take longer to cook food than

a conventional stove or oven.

• Cooks may need to learn special cooking techniques to fry common

foods, such as flatbreads like  chapatis  and tortillas.

• Some solar cooker designs are affected by strong winds, which can slow

the cooking process, cool the food due to convective losses, and disturb

the reflector.

CONCLUSION• Solar cookers use no fuel. This saves cost as well as reducing environmental damage

caused by fuel use. Since 2.5 billion people cook on open fires using biomass fuels, solar

cookers could have large economic and environmental benefits by reducing deforestation.

• When solar cookers are used outside, they do not contribute inside heat, potentially saving

fuel costs for cooling as well.

• Solar cookers are less useful in cloudy weather and near the poles (where the sun is low in

the sky or below the horizon). Solar cooking has three devices for an integrated cooking

solution:

a) Solar cooker.

b) Fuel-efficient  cook-stove.

c) Insulated storage container such as a basket filled with straw to store heated food. Very hot

food may continue to cook for hours in a well-insulated container.

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ANYQUERIES

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