Performance Evaluation and Financial Analysis of Solar Industrial Oven Using Pair of Scheffler Reflectors

To deal with climate change and fossil fuel depletion problems, direct utilization of solar energy is the most promising option. Innovating new technologies and exploring possibilities to fi nd new applications for existing technologies is the key to resolve this problem. Scheffl er solar concentrators based steam generation systems are successfully deployed for community cooking applications in India. There is need to look beyond cooking and develop different commercial and industrial applications using Scheffl er solar concentrator as a primary heat source. An Industrial Oven is developed by authors for catering mid temperature applications in Industries, which utilizes Scheffl er solar concentrator of 16 m2 as a prime source and two such concentrators focus inside a single oven. This innovation delivers 9 kW, which is good enough heat for many industrial applications in 100°C–200°C range, replacing electricity or fossil fuels like LPG or diesel. The trials show excellent technical and fi nancial viability of the new design. Depending on fuel to be replaced, payback period varies from 2–6 years. Paper discusses development process of the new product and fi nancial analysis for the same.