Power Generating Solar Oven

Solar cookers are quite popular items nowadays. The easiest type of the solar cookers is the solar oven. It can be made using shoe box, even from the empty can of Pringles or the like.

I think with this, it can produce also power.

Thus I decided to make an experiment. This experiment checks that generating power from solar oven is feasible.

Prepare the following:
* Shoe box any size
* aluminum foil
* black colored paper
* glue
* black permanent marker
* scissors
* double adhesive tape
* pencil
* ruler
* bolts, nuts and washers
* Peltier tile
* heat sink
* Voltmeter or multimeter
* thermal compound
* hot glue gun and stick

Mark and cut the bottom of the shoe box to fit the area of Peltier Tile.

Place black colored paper in the bottom of the shoe box. This will serve as the heat collector coming from the sun. Cut also the area where the peltier tile is located.

Place aluminum foil around the inner box. This will be used to reflect the sun.

Place aluminum foil to the inner side of the shoe box lid. This is the main reflector.

Make two side reflectors. The width is the same with the width of the box. The length should not be less than the height of the box plus lid's width. In this experiment the length of the side reflector is higher than the main reflector. Glue an aluminum foil to the side reflectors. Cut the paper plate in half. This plate will use an extra reflector and adjuster of the main and side reflectors. Attach each of the half plate to reflectors as shown above.

Cut the 1/2" from the borders of the shoe box cover except for the boarder attaching the body.

The cuts will be use as cover of the oven. Place a double sided tape around the boarders. Paste the plastic on top of the lid.

Using black permanent marker, cover the hot side of the peltier tile. The hot side is the opposite of the side where there is written model of the tile.

Put thermal compound on the cold side of the peltier tile, then, place the tile on the heat sink.

Using hot glue attach the generator assembly to the bottom of the box as shown in the image.

Using rubber bands attach the two side reflectors to he oven as shown above.

Place the oven under the sun.

Data gathered.
Oven's data:
95 degree Celsius on sunlight.
50 degree Celsius on partial sunlight.

Power data:
Generator(peltier tile) with direct sunlight has the maximum voltage reading of 190mV. But, when oven is in direct sunlight but the generator is covered the voltage is 60mV.

This, experiment concludes that solar oven can be use to generate power. Although the voltage is low, this proves that it can produce power.

Note: To make charger voltage from this oven, add 4 peltier tiles in series and booster module or a circuit to boost it's power.

A bigger heat sink can be use to increase the efficiency.