Conception, Realization and Testing of a Solar Cooker Built with Ring Array Concentrator - RAC in sub Saharan region

A Ring Array Concentrator - RAC was conceived, realized and tested for cooking purpose in Burkina Faso where irradiation flux is about 5.5kWh/m${}^2$/day. The RAC, having a useful aperture area of 1.692 m${}^2$, was built with five (5) imbricated conical concentrators. The conceived RAC has a mean geometric concentration ratio evaluated to 38, allowing a transmitted temperature of 330${}^{\circ }$C to the receiver’s fluid, supposing a possible cooking time of 6 hours and with a theoretical efficiency from 36% to 40%. This is therefore suitable for cooking, frying and roasting. Water was boiled from October 13th to 15th, 2021 and frying oil was raised up to 132${}^{\circ }$C in October 21st and 22nd, 2022. One (1) kg of potatoes was fried and another kg of meat brochettes were roasted for experimental purpose, supporting the fact that RAC systems could be used efficiently to cook in Burkina Faso, a Sub Saharan country. The weak points of the system, such as the sharp decrease of the mean geometric concentration ratio compared to parabolic RAC and the fact that sun rays come from above, could even be improved by the multiplication of the cones and the channeling of the sun rays by multiple reflections. The RAC could therefore be implemented as a clean cooking technology in an area where abusive wood and Charcoal cooking is still widely in place in suburban areas.