Optimization of thermal storage using different materials for cooking with solar power

Abstract

Previous studies into the use of solar power have been limited to storage materials and general applications; however, our study focused on the use of solar power for food preparation (cooking) and the selection of materials for the major components (storage material, insulation, convective lid) of a thermal energy storage system to optimize the use of solar power for cooking when sunlight is absent, e.g., evening/night. Our study incorporated different materials for each component, considering system performance and the costs of materials as key evaluation parameters. Based on our results, we optimized the system using selected materials and then compared it with an experimental model used for validation. Solar salt was selected as the storage material, sugarcane fibers were used as insulation, and copper was used as the convective material for the lid of the cooking pot. The results showed that the optimized system was 38.8 % more efficient than the experimental model. Moreover, the materials we selected for the optimized system are inexpensive, increasing affordability and thus encouraging consumers to use this eco-friendly system.