DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE COOKER (HOT PLATE) WITH PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR ENERGY

•The objective of this research work is:•Innovation in the field of solar renewable energy applications,•Propose an ecological cooking method,•Heating mode at high temperature (> 200 °) using a Photovoltaic solar energy. In this paper, we present the feasibility of an innovative autonomous solar cooker (hot plate) running on renewable photovoltaic (PV) energy. The proposed equipment is based on the sizing, design and construction of a PV system, adapted to the needs of users in the rural and especially urban world. It is formed by PV panels, DC / DC energy converters, thermal resistors and a digital block for control, supervision, acquisition and displays of meteorological, thermal and electrical quantities of the system (lighting, PWM signals, currents, voltages, powers, efficiency, temperatures, etc.). Experimentation with the system for whole days shows, for an intensity of illumination varying from 400 W/m2 to 900 W/m2 and an ambient temperature of the order of 22°C, the overall electrical power supplied by the panels PV of 430 W/peak, and the temperature of the thermal resistance, reaches after 15 s, the value of 580°C (i.e. 38.66°C/s). Under these conditions, the boiling of one liter of water and the cooking of 2 Kg of food (fries) took place after 25 minutes of cooker operation. Comparison with conventional thermal cookers shows a marked improvement in the cooking temperature, boiling times and heating speed of 178% (a factor of 2.79), 83.3% and 943% (a factor of 10.43) respectively. In addition, the thermal efficiency of the cooker is estimated at 86%, an improvement of 59.2% compared to conventional cookers. All the results obtained clearly show remarkable performances, consequently the feasibility of the innovative photovoltaic cooker, proposed during this work, inside and outside the homes.