A parabolic solar cooker with automatic two axes sun tracking system

A parabolic solar cooker with automatic two axes sun tracking system was designed, constructed. operated and tested to overcome the need for frequent tracking and standing in the sun, facing all concentrating solar cookers with manual tracking, and a programmable logic controller was used to control the motion of the solar cooker. The results of the continuous test - performed for three days from 8:30 h to 16:30 h in the year 2008 - showed that the water temperature inside the cooker's tube reached 90 degrees C in typical summer days, when the maximum registered ambient temperature was 36 degrees C. It was also noticed that the water temperature increases when the ambient temperature gets higher or when the solar intensity is abundant. This is in favor of utilizing this cooker in many developing countries, which are characterized by high solar insulations and high temperatures. Besides cooking, the proposed cooker could be utilized for warming food, drinks as well as to pasteurize water or milk. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.