Optical analysis and design of a novel solar beam down concentrator for indoor cooking

This investigation provides the design and optical analysis of an innovative solar beam-down configuration, which can be a promising passive solution for indoor solar-based cooking, offering an eco-friendly and sustainable approach. The system uses a beam-down parabolic dish concentrator to concentr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dev Banitia, Siddharth Ramachandran, Satya Sekhar Bhogilla, P.K. Vijayan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Solar Compass
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772940024000171
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Summary:This investigation provides the design and optical analysis of an innovative solar beam-down configuration, which can be a promising passive solution for indoor solar-based cooking, offering an eco-friendly and sustainable approach. The system uses a beam-down parabolic dish concentrator to concentrate the solar radiation onto a ground-mounted receiver module, which has a secondary optical module consisting of a secondary reflector-light pipe system. The receiver module is a well-insulated tank consisting of a receiver in contact with a primary heat transfer fluid. The thermal energy stored in the receiver module is transported via a secondary heat transfer fluid to and from the cooktop via a tube-in-tube arrangement, which induces a thermosyphon effect. A multi-variable optical analysis through an efficient ray tracing methodology has been adopted to identify optimal design values of optical components such as parabolic dish concentrators, secondary reflectors, and light pipe-receiver assemblies. The optimal optical design parameters and their corresponding ray trace analysis results are elaborated. It was found that the designed beam-down parabolic dish concentrator system provides an ideal thermal energy of 10.3 kWh per day at an average DNI of 650 W/m2. Further, this investigation provides a design for a beam-down parabolic dish concentrating system that may be used for efficient and sustainable solar energy solutions.
ISSN:2772-9400