Energetic and exergetic evaluation of solar box cooker in Algerian climatic conditions

This paper deals with thermodynamic analysis, which constitutes an alternative approach to evaluating the performance of solar cookers. In this experimental setup, a family–type box solar cooker (SBC) with an inclined aperture area was designed and tested during clear days of months May to June in Algerian climatic conditions. The energy and exergy outputs for the SBC both without and with one reflector were in the following ranges, respectively, during the experimental period: 0.2–29.3, and 0.03–47.64 kJ as well as 0.03–1.92 kJ and 0.02–2.12 kJ. The energy and exergy efficiency for the SBC without and with one reflector was 13.6%, 16.2%, 0.73%, and 0.90% respectively, during the experimental period. The maximum daily exergy efficiencies of the SBC were 1.8% and 2.5%. Thus developing a SBC with one sun–facing reflector (booster mirror) can improve the efficiency of the cooker.