Feasibility Study of Solar-Powered Cooking Stove for Anytime Use for a Small Rural Indian Family

The depletion of fossil fuels and environmental concerns is a major challenge for the world. The requirement of energy is increasing day by day. The government is focussing to increase the share of renewal energy as compared to the fossil fuels. The government is majorly encouraging to devise a system that will reduce human dependency on fossil fuels. Solar radiation is freely available during the daytime. There is also the encouragement of the maximized use of renewable energy. A small family uses the kitchen twice (day and night) per day. Recent reports revealed that even after the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, they are not being refilled regularly. This could be due to the availability of LPG at nearby locations as well as its cost. Our goal is to design a project which involves the development of a solar-powered stove that would use solar energy during daytime as a source of power. The oven will be suitable for a small rural family which can replace the traditional LPG-powered oven. The proposed solution is completely solar energy-based and maintenance is low. Using it, families will save 10–12 LPG cylinders annually. The design of a cooking stove is proposed to exchange the heat energy to cooking food using heat transport fluids which will be available at 250–300 °C. During the daytime, heat energy will be stored in a heat storage tank by employing a parabolic trough collector. Initial installation costs will be high. The maintenance cost and running cost will be very low. The proposed design is environment-friendly, maintenance-free, longer lifespan. There will be zero refilling cost and minimal recurring cost due to absence moving parts.