Performance Testing of a Parabolic Solar Concentrator for Solar Cooking

The objective of the present work is to conduct a worthwhile experimental study of the performance of a parabolic solar concentrator for solar cooking. The literature survey briefly highlights the standard performance tests of solar cookers and gives the experimental studies obtained by some authors. Our experimental device, made from simple means using local materials, consists of a parabolic concentrator having a 0.80 m diameter and 0.08 m depth as well as a cylindrical absorber with a 0.10 m diameter and is 0.20 m long. The testing period started on April 24th, 2014 and continued till July 10th of the same year, in Rabat (33°53′ N, 6°59′ W), Morocco. The average ambient temperature is 24 °C. The results show that using synthetic oil as the heat transfer medium has achieved a maximum temperature of 153 °C against 97 °C with water. The overall heat loss coefficient is estimated to be 17.6 W m⁻² °C⁻¹. The energy and exergy efficiencies are, respectively, 29.0–2.4% and 0.1–0.5%. Adding a glass cover on the front face of the absorber improved the maximum temperature by 15 °C. Automatic two-axis sun tracking system also increased the maximum temperature by 13 °C compared to manual tracking system.