Solar cooker realizations in actual use: An overview

Presently fossil sources still dominate the domestic sector, which is the largest primary energy-consuming sector across the globe. Energy for cooking is considered to be the most important end use in the sector, and its demand is continuously increasing [11]. Cooking with solar energy is one of the promising solutions for meeting energy demands. However, its large-scale dissemination and popularization still remain limited. A number of solar energy-based cooking technologies exist all over the world, but a very few are actually in use. Major work on this subject is intended for research purposes only. This paper deals with the recent advances in developments and the performance analysis of a solar cooker's technologies. The meticulous review on such technologies provides an overview on existing solar cookers developed during the past two decades, especially major geometry components that affect their performances such as the booster mirror, absorber tray, insulation, glazing system, cooking vessel, and thermal energy storage materials. The thermal performance parameters, such as figures of merit and cooking power used for testing and evaluating the performance of solar cooking, energy and exergy analysis, have also been addressed. The performance of both single- and double-axis tracking mechanisms applied in the cooker structure is also discussed. Attempt has also been made to summarize the CO2 mitigation potential through such devices. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.