A vacuum tube based improved solar cooker

A new type of improved solar cooker based upon the use of a single vacuum tube is presented in this paper. The proposed cooker utilizes a solar collector consisting of parallel plane rectangular glass mirror strips mounted inside a wooden frame and requiring one dimensional solar tracking through a common driver. The proposed design can be either installed over the roof top of a house or near a south facing window (in countries of northern hemisphere). Temperatures as high as 250 C are attainable, making it suitable for all types of cooking. Due to larger collector area, the design offers substantially higher cooking power compared to other conventional solar cookers. Theoretical performance analysis and comparative experimental results at different times of the year with a 1.775 m collector prototype have been included along with the cost/benefit analysis. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.