Science Solar Cooker
For this project, we had to use our knowledge about refraction, reflection, and some previous knowledge of insulation to make a device that can heat up food using the heat from the sun, with portability, serving the purpose of cooking food in areas that lost or do not have access to fire or electricity.
For this project, I went with a small solar cooker at first. I chose that because I wanted it to be portable, and I thought that a smaller space would allow the radiation to be more focused (trapped and condensed) in the container. It turns out it couldn't collect enough energy with that small area. Moreover, there was a failure of using reflection to aim to a hole into the container. Also, I added too many layers that were suppose to absorb heat and keep the heat in, but all it did was keep the heat out. After the first trial, I left it at school so I had to create a new one and conduct more trials.
For this project, I went with a small solar cooker at first. I chose that because I wanted it to be portable, and I thought that a smaller space would allow the radiation to be more focused (trapped and condensed) in the container. It turns out it couldn't collect enough energy with that small area. Moreover, there was a failure of using reflection to aim to a hole into the container. Also, I added too many layers that were suppose to absorb heat and keep the heat in, but all it did was keep the heat out. After the first trial, I left it at school so I had to create a new one and conduct more trials.
| First solar cooker design |
The second design I came up with was a transparent one. It has a built-in thermometer so the temperature could be observed easily. It was also transparent so heat / infrared radiation can come in from any angle. The design was simple and easy to use. The magnifying glass serves as a transparent cover but also focuses heat into one spot. I made some improvements and finally covered a tissue box with aluminium foil so there is a bigger are that collects the radiation. The aluminium foil also prevents radiation going in, out of the plastic bottle and away, but reflects it back in the bottle again.
These ideas were based on my knowledge, and the idea of the tissue box is from other solar ovens. I tried to not do the same as all the others I have found. I tried to be different. The second design was much better than the first one. The results were about 10ºC every 15 minutes. But what I heard of my classmates' was much higher. So next time, before getting too confident, I would consider why everyone else on the internet uses the same design and find out the reason behind it. However, it was a fun and great learning experience.
My lab report:
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