Study and Investigation of Heat Storage Materials for Solar Cooker

Abstract

Today, energy storage solutions play a crucial role in managing the increasing energy demands and enhancing the efficiency of solar-based devices. These demands are constantly rising in various sectors, such as households, manufacturing companies, and other utility areas. Renewable energy sources fulfill some of these demands, but certain limitations, such as constant and continuous availability, have created several challenges. To overcome this challenge, energy storage systems have emerged as a viable solution. These materials store the energy when available and release it when needed, following the latent and sensible heat capacity concept. Traditional thermal energy storage materials, like paraffin wax, oil, pebbles, etc., have been extensively used in many applications. The present work provides a detailed experimental study of innovative and new materials like beeswax, steel, gritty, scrappy iron, scrappy aluminum, sand, ceramic, granite stone, brass, and combinations to take advantage of latent and sensible storage. A unique experimental setup has been designed and developed to test these materials from the energy storage point of view. It is observed that heat storage can be enhanced by 43 % by selecting appropriate storage materials. Beeswax with Granite Stone mixture is efficient for heat storage for night cooking. This innovation represents a significant advancement in maintaining the efficiency and performance of solar-based applications.