Design, Fabrication, and Performance Evaluation of Four-reflector Solar Baking Oven

Traditional cooking methods using fuel woods can pose very serious challenges of local and regional air pollution and land degradation. These methods are inefficient, unsustainable, and have serious implications to the environment. To overcome these challenges, a novel four-reflector solar baking oven has been designed and tested for application in rural areas. The solar baking oven consists of four-reflectors made from plane mirrors which reflect the Sun’s rays to the absorber plate placed at the baking chamber. The four-reflector intensify the incoming solar radiation into the baking chamber and increase the thermal properties and efficiency of the oven thereby resulting in shorter cooking time. The result obtained from the study showed that the oven can attain high temperature values. The temperature values are higher when the oven is loaded compared to when the oven is unloaded. When the oven is unloaded, the highest temperature attained by the four reflector solar baking oven is 121.6 oC at 13:00 pm, as compared to 133 oC at 13:00 pm, when the oven is loaded. Furthermore, the solar insolation varies with time and the study indicates that the maximum value of solar insulation is 940 w/m2 in all the two condition. Moreover, the economic analysis indicates that the payback period is 2.3 year and it is viable for application in the rural area.