({{Solar navbox}})
(header; move links from category page)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{topic header| Allart-everest.jpg | Parabolic solar cookers }}
A parabolic solar cooker is essentially a solar thermal collector [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_collector] used to cook food or pasteurize water.  Parabolic designs have been used for centuries. The idea to concentrate light using curved mirrors was developed by the Greeks, Aztecs, Incas, Romans and Chinese. The Incas used bronze and gold for their mirrors and they built structures that were several stories high. This technology seems to have appeared around the same time for each of the civilizations.
A parabolic solar cooker is essentially a solar thermal collector [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_collector] used to cook food or pasteurize water.  Parabolic designs have been used for centuries. The idea to concentrate light using curved mirrors was developed by the Greeks, Aztecs, Incas, Romans and Chinese. The Incas used bronze and gold for their mirrors and they built structures that were several stories high. This technology seems to have appeared around the same time for each of the civilizations.


Line 40: Line 42:


== External links ==
== External links ==
*[http://hubpages.com/hub/Concrete-Solar-concentrator Free and Easy DIY Parabolic Solar Concentrator Plan]
*[http://hubpages.com/hub/Concrete-Solar-concentrator Free and Easy DIY Parabolic Solar Concentrator Plan]
*[http://hubpages.com/hub/solar-reflector How to harness Sun's energy by making a solar concentrator]
*[http://hubpages.com/hub/solar-reflector How to harness Sun's energy by making a solar concentrator]
* [http://solarcooking.org/plans/ Build a Solar Cooker] - plans at The Solar Cooking Archive (solarcooking.org).
* [http://solarcooking.org/plans/ Build a Solar Cooker] - plans at The Solar Cooking Archive (solarcooking.org).
* [http://solarcooking.org/unattendedparabolic.htm A Parabolic Solar Cooker for Unattended Cooking] at The Solar Cooking Archive.
* [http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/solarcooking/parabolic/paraboliccookerwebsection-pg1.htm PARABOLIC SOLAR COOKERS] - Information about the history, optics theory, applications and construction techniques
* Paraboloid Solar Cooker: [http://pages.suddenlink.net/solarized Solar Cooker from recycled light fixture]


* [http://solarcooking.org/unattendedparabolic.htm A Parabolic Solar Cooker for Unattended Cooking] at The Solar Cooking Archive.


{{Solar navbox}}
{{Solar navbox}}


[[Category:Parabolic solar cookers]]
[[Category:Parabolic solar cookers| ]]
[[Category:Solar cooking]]
[[Category:Solar cooking]]

Revision as of 16:11, 26 June 2011

A parabolic solar cooker is essentially a solar thermal collector [1] used to cook food or pasteurize water. Parabolic designs have been used for centuries. The idea to concentrate light using curved mirrors was developed by the Greeks, Aztecs, Incas, Romans and Chinese. The Incas used bronze and gold for their mirrors and they built structures that were several stories high. This technology seems to have appeared around the same time for each of the civilizations.

There are many designs and models for parabolic solar cookers. Some are made with locally gathered scrap materials while others are manufactured using highly machined, durable but more expensive materials. Here are links to and photos of a number of parabolic solar cooker designs.

Danger from concentrated sunlight

A parabolic cooker concentrates sunlight. Ordinary sunlight is already dangerous (if the sun is viewed directly without protection) so concentrated sunlight can be much more so. (There is a story that someone in the USA damaged their eyes in this way.[verification needed])

The larger the parabola, the greater the danger.

Ways of reducing the danger include:

  • Safety rules.[1]
  • Design. Note that these mostly reduce the danger rather than eliminate it:
    • Putting the focal point inside the parabola (deep dish focus), so someone would have to put their head inside to expose themselves to danger. (There is still a danger if someone unwisely checks a problem or tries to do maintenance while the parabola is pointed towards the sun, or if children are playing.)
    • Using a physical barrier to prevent people going near the danger point.
    • A table to protect the cook from burns and dazzles.[2] (How does this work? It obviously can't block too much, or it will block the sun from the doing its work.)
    • Keeping the parabola small.
    • Designing the parabola to avoid a small sharp focal point. This requires that the cooking vessel have a relatively large surface area to catch the reflected rays. This would make it more likely for someone to be struck by the focused rays, but less damaging if it actually happened.[3]
    • Maximizing the efficiency of absorption by the cooking vessel (it would be expected that making it matt black is the most important thing)
    • Four design methods to improve saftey are described at Wikia:Solarcooking:Satellite dish.

The risk can be reduced but not eliminated. Other solar cooker designs have much less risk, and are probably a better option in situations where they can provide enough heat.[verification needed] Alternatively, integrated cooking and improved cookstoves with fuels from waste biomass may be safer options which use only modest amounts of resources.

Are there other solar cooker designs that can provide comparable high levels of heat but more safely, without being too expensive?[expansion needed] I made a pseudo compound parabolic dish that concentrates the light down at the bottom of the dish and gives a bit longer cook time than a parabolic dish. It worked well. I tested a winston w dish in software and that indicates MUCH longer cook time with good concentration amd a soft focus.

Notes

  1. E.g. Safety Rules (from the AMSI Solar Cooker Project)
  2. http://solarcooking.org/images/gallery-para.htm Parabolic Cookers] (The Solar Cooking Archive)
  3. This is just my (Chriswaterguy's) idea. When testing the parabola, it should not create an intense bright spot, but rather a slightly diffuse bright spot (but still significantly smaller than the smallest cooking vessel which will be used).

See also

External links


Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.