NEED FOR SOLAR COOKER

 Half the world’s population burn wood or dried dung to cook food.

 Wood cut for cooking purposes contributes to the 16 million hectares of Forest destroyed

annually.

 People are exposed to indoor air pollution as a result of burning solid fuels for cooking

and heating.

 Nearly 1.2 billion people, do not have access to clean drinking water.

 Over 1 million children die yearly because of un-boiled drinking water.

 COOKING PRINCIPLE
 Solar cookers are passive solar devices.

Sunlight is converted to heat energy

which is retained for cooking.

Solar cookers utilize the simple principles of reflection,

concentration, absorption and greenhouse effect to
convert sunlight to heat energy.

The steps involved in the solar cooker are

concentrating , capturing and converting the solar energy.

Clean cooking technology

 CLASSIFICATION
 Direct Type : Use some solar energy concentrator to focus sunlight into an area.

Eg: Parabolic solar cooker

Indirect Type: A box covered with transparent material like glass. Employs greenhouse effect
for cooking.

Eg: Solar box cooker

 Advanced Type: The cookers use either a flat piece or focusing collector, which collect the
solar heat and transfer this to the cooking vessel.

Eg: Thermal storage solar cooker

 Common Types Of Solar Cookers
 Box Cooker

Panel Cooker

Parabolic Cooker
Solar Box Cooker
 A box type solar cooker consists of a rectangular enclosure,
insulated on the bottom and sides, having two glass covers on
the top. Solar radiation enters through the top and heat up the
enclosure in which, the food to be cooked is placed in shallow
vessels. A typical size of the enclosure is 30cm*50cm*12cm.
Temperature around 100ºC can be obtained in these cookers
on sunny days and rice, pulses, vegetables etc. Can be readily
cooked. The time taken for cooking, depends upon the solar
radiations and varies from 0.5 to 2.5 hours.
 WORKING
A single glass reflector, whose inclination can be varied is sometimes attached to
the box-type cooker. The addition of the mirror helps in achieving enclosure temperature,
which is raised higher by about 15º to 20ºC, hence cooking time is reduced. Cookers with
reflectors on all four edges have also been made.

In this system we can’t be used for making items like chapatis or fry items, which require
higher temprature.
 DIFFERENT COMPONENTS
i. Box:- wood, steel sheet, painted with weather proof paint.

ii. Absorber tray:- it may be made of teak wood or water proof of plywood.

iii. Utensil:- Low height, large diameter utensils are made of then A1 sheet. 3-4 utensils
are used to cook.

iv. Insulation:- Insulation is used but between absorber tray and wooden block.

v. Glass cover:- It is made of 3mm thick plane sheet. It helps in attaining high
temperature 90ºC to 100ºC.

vi. Reflector:- it is made of plane mirror. It is fitted in wooden frame. It also works as
top cover of the box.
 Parabolic Cooker
Focus a lot of sun energy onto a very small space, using
parabolic shapes .
Works on the principle that when a 3D parabola is aimed at
sun , the rays are reflected on to the focus.
Cooks nearly as fast as a conventional oven Costly and
complicated to make and use–have to turn frequently to
follow the sun.
Consists of a large parabolic reflector and cooking pot
holder
When the reflector surface is aimed at the sun , the rays
falling on the parabolic surface converges to the focus of the
parabola.
The cooking pot is placed at the focus of the reflector.
The pot surfaces are blacked to improve the absorption.
 Panel Cooker
Cooking pots enclosed by a panel of reflectors.

Sunlight is reflected off of multiple panels onto a pot

under a glass lid or in a bag .

Can be built quickly and at low cost

Many different varieties and Popular with relief agencies.

 WORKING
 It incorporates elements of both parabolic
and box solar cookers.

 The reflective panel directs sunlight onto

a dark colour pot.
 The pot is enclosed in an insulating shell
such as high temperature cooking bag or
an inverted bowl.

 Can attain temperatures in the range of 95 –

125ºC.
TYPE ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

• USE BOTH DIRECT AND DIFFUSE

RADIATION
SOLAR BOX COOKER • EASY AND SAFE TO USE • WIDELY DIVERGENT THERMAL
• REQUIRE LITTLE INTERVENTION BY PERFORMANCE
USER
• HIGH ACCEPTANCE ANGLE

PANEL COOKER • BETTER PERFORMANCE THAN BOX • RELIES MORE ON REFLECTED

COOKER RADIATION

• SAFETY PROBLEMS
• CAN ACHIEVE HIGHER CONSTRUCTION IS
PARABOLIC COOKER TEMPERATURES. RELATIVELY DIFFICULT
• HIGH EFFICIENCY • LOW ACCEPTANCE ANGLE
REQUIRES USER
ATTENTION
 VACCUM OR EVACUATED TUBE SOLAR COOKER
o The design is a simple flat plate collector housed in
an evacuated glass tube.
o The tubes are made from a type of glass called
Borosilicate, which is resistant to thermal shock.
o Borosilicate glass has the characteristic of being very
strong and also has excellent light transparency.
o It consists of two concentric glass tubes with
vacuum in between.
o The outer tube is transparent while the inner is
coated with Aluminium nitride for better absorption.
o The evacuated glass tube receives the solar rays that
pass through and is absorbed by the inner lining.
 Application of Solar Collector
o The combination of the highly efficient
absorber coating and the vaccum insulation
means that the coating can be well over 200ºC.

o Due to the presence of vacuum , the heat losses

will be negligible

o A reflector is provided for concentrating

sunlight onto the tubes.

o A tray is provided inside the glass tube for

cooking purposes.
 HELIOSTAT
o A device that reflects sunlight in a fixed direction
as the sun moves is known as a Heliostat.

o The heliostats are mirrors with solar tracking on

two axes and capable of concentrating the
reflected solar radiation on a focal point.

o Heliostats are generally made from iron glass.

o Scheffler heliostats are used for community solar

cookers.
 ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
 It is a renewable energy
 The solar cooker requires neither fuel
 it preserves more of the natural nutrients of the foods by cooking at slower
and lower temperatures
 Saves a lot of firewood
 Can be used in areas where fuel and firewood are not available.

o It is not continuous.
o It cannot be used during rainy season or cloudy conditions.
o Performance could be affected by strong winds
o Time required is higher than conventional cooking methods.
 SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEM
Solar water heating is a system of heating water by utilising the sun-energy.
Therefore, solar water heater is a good device to save the non-renewable
source of energy such as good device to save the non-renewable source of
energy, such as kerosene, coal etc., which is used up for heating water
particularly in winter season.

Main components of solar water heater-

1. Flat plate collector
2. Storage tank
3. Circulation system
4. Auxiliary heating system
 NATURAL CIRCULATION SOLAR WATER HEATER
o It consist of a tiled collector with transparent cover plate, a separate insulated
water storage tank. The bottom of the storage tank is higher than the top of the
collector and no auxiliary energy is required to circulate water through circulation.
When water in the collector is heated by the sun, it expand and rise up the
collector through a pipe and finally into the top of the storage tank. To avoid
reverse flow, the top of the absorber should be at least one feet below the solid leg
fitting on the storage tank. Capacity of this system is ranging from 100 to 200
litres and can supply the needs of a family of four to five persons at 50 to 70ºC
Thank You