TheCriticalAngleandPercentEfficiencyofParabolicSolarCookers

ArielChen

Abstract:
Theparabolaiscommonlyusedasthecurvefor
solarcookersbecauseofitsabilitytoreflect
incominglightwithanincomingangleof90degrees
toasinglefocuspoint.However,becauseofthis
veryspecificproperty,theparabolicsolarcooker
mustconstantlyberealignedwiththeorbitingsun
formaximumeffectiveness.Solarcookers
concentratelighttoalargersurface,soitisslightly
moretolerantformarginalerrorsofalignment.
However,towhatpointarethereflectedraysno
longertolerant,andstarttomissthetarget?How
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wpcontent/uploads/2007/02/vajra20061.JPG
quicklydotherestofthereflectedraysmiss?Isthere
anoptimalfocalheightortargetsizethatwillalwaysbemoretolerantoferrorsinalignment?Using
GeometryExpressions,aconstraintbasedsymbolicgeometrysystem,inconjunctionwithMaple,a
computeralgebrasystem,thesesituationsweremodeledandinvestigated.Wefoundthatthesolar
concentratoralwayshasthelargesttoleranceforerrorwhenthefocalheightisafourthofthediameter,
orlevelwiththeboundariesoftheconcentrator.Thepercentageoflightreflectedtothetargetisat
100%forasmallrangeofangles,andpromptlycompletelymissesthetargetatanglesoutsidethis
range.Thismiss,calledthespillrate,isessentialforcomparingtheparabolawithothercurves.Although
theremaynotbeanothercurvemoreaccuratethantheparabolawhenperfectlyalignedwiththelight
source,theremaybeanothercurvethatismoreaccurateatwiderangles.

Introduction:
Solarcookershavebecomepopulararoundtheworldbecausetheyheatandcookwithoutconsuming
fuelswhicharenotalwaysreadilyavailable.Theycanreachhighertemperaturesthanthesurrounding
atmospherebecausesolarcookersconcentratealargeamountoflighttoarelativelysmallerabsorbing
surface.Theareathatsunlightiscollectedfromiscalledtheaperturearea.Beforehowsolarcookers
concentratelightisdiscussed,thelawofreflectionmustfirstbeunderstood.
Thediagram[1]belowillustrateshowasinglerayoflightreflectsoffaflatmirror.Theincomingray,
calledtheincidentray,hitsthemirrorattheincidencepoint.Attheincidentpoint,alineperpendicular
tothemirror,thenormal,actsasalineofsymmetryfortheincidentrayandthereflectedray.Theangle
betweenthereflectedrayandthenormal,theangleofreflection,andtheanglebetweentheincident
rayandthenormal,theangleofincidence,arealwaysidentical.
1

Normal

AngleofReflection

AngleofIncidence

ReflectedRay

IncidentRay

ReflectiveSurface

[1]

Forcurvedsurfaces,thenormalisperpendiculartothetangentattheincidencepointshowninthe
diagram[2]below.

[2]

Solarcookerscomeinalldifferentshapesandsizes,butbecauseoftheparabolasabilitytoreflectlight
ontoasinglefocuspoint,paraboliccookersarecommonlyused.However,thisspecialpropertyisonly
usefulwhenlighthasanincomingangleof90o.Thereflectedrayscompletelymissthefocalpointatany
otherincomingangle.Becausesolarcookersareconcentratinglighttoasurface(thepot),ratherthana
singlefocuspoint,thesolarcookercanstillfunctionatanglesslightlylessthan90o.
Inthemodel[3]createdwithGeometryExpressions,weexaminethepropertiesofthereflectedlight
raysina2Dview.Theparabolaisgiventhegeneralequationof
,wherefisthefocalheight.
Theredlinerepresentstheindefinitenumberofincomingrays,theorangelinesrepresentallthe
reflectedrays,representstheincomingangleoflight,andthecirclerepresentsapotwithradiusr.

8
6
r
4
f
2
X2=4Yf

[3]

Thissimulatesrealworldparabolicsolarconcentratorssuchastheonesshownbelow.

http://digitaljourno.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/sunfireandcooking/

http://www.ecoworld.com/fuels/solarthermalpower.html

ProblemFindingtheCriticalAngle:
Becausethepositionofthesunintheskyisconstantlychanging,weareinterestedindeterminingthe
focalheightandradiusthatwillcollectthemostreflectedrayswiththemostangletolerance.Ifasolar
cookerhasalargeangletolerance,itmeansthatitisabletoreflectlightontotheabsorbingsurfaceat
extremeorsmallerincomingangles.Foragenericmodel[4]theaperturelengthofthesolarcookeris
heldconstantat1whiletheradius(r)andfocalheight(f)areinterpretedasratiosofthediameter.

0.4
r
-1 1
,

2 16f

0.2

1 1
,
2 16f

-0.4

-0.2

0.2

0.4

[4]

Inthisparticularsituation[4],allthereflectedlightraysarehittingthepot.Butatwhatangledothe
lightraysstartmissingthepot?GeometryExpressionscalculatesthecriticalincominganglethatlight
startsmissingthepotas

.Thiscriticalangleisthewidest

incomingangleforagivenrandfandanaperturelengthof1thatconcentratesallthereflectedraysto
thepotwithradiusr.

0.4
r

0.2
f

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2
2

arctan

0.2

0.4

0.6

2 2

1+32f +256f -256f r

16fr

-0.2

[5]

Tofurtherunderstandthemeaningofthisformula,theangleformulawasgraphedusingMaple.The
graphoftheformulaandacrosssectionatwherer=0.12isshown:

[6][7]

Thesegraphs[6],[7]showthecriticalangleforagivenfandrwherethereflectedraysstarttomissthe
pot.Becauseourgoalistodeterminethecombinationthatwillhavethelargestangletolerance,the
smallerthecriticalangle,themoreangletolerantthesolarcooker.
Asvisiblefromthegraph[6],thesolarcookerbecomesmoreangletolerantasthepotsize(r)increases.
Thisisexpectedbecauseasrincreases,thereflectedrayshavealargerabsorbingareatohit.However,
havingalargeradiusmeansthattherewillbeasmallerconcentrationratio(apertureareatoabsorbing
arearatio).

Fromobservingthegraph,itbecomesapparentthatthereisalwaysafocalheightthatwillhavethe
minimalcriticalangle.Tosolvefortheminimum,theangleformula
wasdifferentiatedandsolvedforinMaple:

>arctan((((1+((f)^(2)*32)+((f)^(4)*256)+((r)^(2)*(f)^(2)*(-256))))^(1/2)*(r)^((-1))*(f)^((1))*1/16));

arctan

1 + 32 f2 + 256 f 4 256 r 2 f 2
16 r f

>diff(%,f);

64 f + 1024 f 3 512 r 2 f
32

1 + 32 f 2 + 256 f 4 256 r 2 f 2
16 r f 2

1 + 32 f 2 + 256 f 4 256 r 2 f 2 r f
1 + 32 f 2 + 256 f 4 256 r 2 f 2
1+
256 r 2 f 2

>simplify(%);

16 r ( 16 f 2 1 )
( 1 + 16 f 2 )

1 + 32 f 2 + 256 f4 256 r 2 f 2

>solve(%,f);

1 -1
,
4 4

Fromthecalculations,theoptimalfocalheightisalwayswhenthefocalheight(f)isafourthofthe
lengthofthediameter,regardlessofthetargetsize.Thisisalsowhenthefocalheightislevelwiththe
boundariesofthesolarcooker.

Problem:SpillRates
Previously,weinvestigatedthecriticalanglethatreflectsallrayswithinadiameterratioof1toapot
withradiusrandfocalheightf.Afterdeterminingtheboundarythatlightstartsspillingover,itledto
thequestionofhowquicklytherestofthelightmissesthepotastheincomingangledecreases.

0.4
A r
0.2

0.6

-0.42
-0.2 (0,0)
z0
X -4Yf=0

0.2

0.4

0.6
[8]

Usingtheabovediagram[8]inconjunctionwithMaple,thepercentageoflightinthesolarcookerwith
diameterratioof1thathitsthepotforagivenpotradiusandincominganglewasexpressedinthe
piecewisefunction[9]below.Resultsarepresentedwiththeopticalfocalheight.
[9]

Theformulaisgraphedin3Dbelow[10].Thediagram[11]attherightiscrosssectionsofthe3dgraph
atspecificvaluesofr(gray:0.25,green:0.20,blue:0.15,black:0.10,gray:0.05).

[10]

[11]

Whentheradiusofthepotissmaller,thepercentefficiencydecreasesatafasterrate.Whentheradius
islarger,thepercentefficiencydecreasesataslowerrate.Nowthatweknowhowquicklylightspillsout
ofthepotinaparabolicsolarcooker,thenextstepistofindacurvethatmaynotbeatperfectasthe
parabolaasincominganglesaround90degrees,butcanholdmorelightinthepotatsmallerincoming
anglethantheparabolabecauselightspillsoutrelativelyquicklyforaparabolicsolarcooker.

Conclusion:
Thesolarconcentratorisalwaysmostangletolerantwhenthefocalheightisonefourthofthethe
aperturelengthregardlessofthetargetsize.Whenthesolarcookerispositionedthisway,itwillbeable
toconcentratealllighttothetargetatthesmallestincomingorwidestanglepossibleforagiven
diameterandtarget.Thereisnt,however,anoptimaltargetsize.Thelargerthetarget,themoreangle
tolerantthesolarconcentratoris.However,thelargerthetarget,thesmallertheconcentrationratiois.
Thetradeoffbetweenangletoleranceandsolarconcentrationdependsonthetargetsize.Toimprove
one,theotherneedstobesacrificed.Itisimpossibletomaximizeboth.
Theresultsfromgraphingtheefficiencyoftheconcentratoratanglesbeyonditscriticalangleshows
howtheefficiencydecreasesverydrasticallywithsmallertargets,whilelargertargetsareefficientat
smallerincomingangles.Thegraphsapplicabilitywillbevitalwhencomparingtheparabolawithother
curves.Althoughtheremaynotbeanothercurveasperfectastheparabolawhenperfectlyaligned,
theremaybecurvesthatwillhavebetterefficiencyatsmallerincomingandwiderangles.

ThismaterialisbaseduponworksupportedbytheNationalScienceFoundationunderGrantNo.
0750028.
Anyopinions,findings,andconclusionsorrecommendationsexpressedinthismaterialarethoseof
theauthor(s)anddonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsoftheNationalScienceFoundation.