Heat losses from a paraboloid concentrator solar cooker: Experimental investigations on effect of reflector orientation

Abstract

The thermal performance of any focussing-type solar cooker, where an unglazed/uuninsulated cooking pot is often used, depends to a great extent on wind conditions. Moreover, these cookers need frequent adjustments to track the Sun in order to keep the focus always at the bottom of the cooking pot. The present paper reports experimental investigations on heat losses from such cooker for different orientations of the paraboloied reflector. Values of the heat loss factor for the tilted reflector are compared with those obtained with the reflector in a horizontal position. The heat loss factore for a cooker with/without reflector is determined for no-wind conditions. It is suggested that a paraboloid reflector is not required for heat loss determination in this case.