Introducing a novel design in the realm of box type solar cookers: An experimental study

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel design of a double glazed box type solar cooker having an L-shaped absorber plate with one internal (bottom) and two external plane reflectors. A series of experiments were performed to access the cooker's thermal performance at the location of Taxila (33.74°N, 72.80°E) in Pakistan during the year 2017. The cooker's performance is evaluated in terms of maximum absorber plate temperature and other thermal performance indicators like first and second figures of merits (F1 and F2), parameter index, energy efficiency, and utilizable efficiency. The experimentally obtained values of all the performance indicators are found to be in the recommended ranges specified in the literature. An increment of about 30% in the absorber plate temperature is estimated for the case of the proposed L-shaped absorber plate along with an internal (bottom) reflector as compared to the case of no internal reflector and a conventional horizontal absorber plate. The first figure of merit of the proposed cooker is estimated to be 0.12, thus classifying it in grade A category. Furthermore, the solar cooker is manufactured at a nominal cost of ∼130 USD, making it a competitive product in the market.