Design, Construction, and Performance Testing of a Collapsible Parabolic Dish Solar Cooker for Temperature Control

Abstract

This paper proposes solar energy as a viable alternative to biomass fuels for cooking, introducing a collapsible parabolic solar cooker designed to regulate heat production. The collector is divided into three sectors, with a specific condition for effective convergence of reflected radiation. The total concentration ratio is 89.4, with the primary sector covering 42%, while sectors 2 and 3 occupy 29% each. In the analysis ASAE protocol was employed. The results obtained from the ASAE S580.1 test revealed a range of cooking power values, with a minimum of 215.5 W and a maximum of 280.9 W. The single measure of performance of the cooker was gauged at 234.17 W. Regarding the Standard Stagnation Temperature, it was observed that a reduction of the collector area by 0.343݉ଶ resulted in a temperature decrease of 59.5℃. The highest recorded SST for the entire solar cooker (when all three sectors were expanded) reached 279℃.