ISEC Project Summary

Locally Made Insulated Electric Cookers

Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics

Insulated electric cookers save energy and money by:

  • Reducing the amount of electricity used in grid-connected cookers.
  • Reducing the number of solar panels needed in off-grid systems, greatly reducing the capital costs.

These insulated cookers can be made locally (presently produced in Kathmandu, Malawi, Togo, Cameroon Zambia), stimulating local economy, exciting interest in technology, and providing product support and customer feedback.  We support new manufacturing centers with funding, instructions, and a support community.  We collaborate with local academic institutions to jointly study the technology and adoption.

ISECookers (Insulated Solar Electric Cookers) are ideal for off-grid communities, but the insulated cooker itself can also be grid connected in order to:

  • Save money by using less electricity.
  • Provide solar/grid hybrid for security in areas where gird electricity is unreliable.

Low power can be stored over time in an aluminum mass to provide high-power cooking during peak load times – as high as 100 kW, as demonstrated in the following three videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXsD_cFuCc4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKIH7HDK6Dw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8bjnh59BBE&

Experience: Several African collaborators have been constructing ISECookers, using less than $30 in parts and materials.  Three vocational programs have been established (two in Malawi, one in India).

Funding: Collaborators received Stage I funding ($1000) after filling out an application verifying capability to manufacture ISECs, and Stage II funding ($1000 – $4000) after implementing manufactured ISECs.

Sustainability:

  • ISECooking provides services to underserved communities with otherwise no access to cooking technologies.
  • ISECooking replaces present combustion cooking that cause deforestation, climate change, and more deaths from respiratory disease than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
  • Developing communities gain financial and academic independence.

 

Education:

  • Cal Poly students collaboratively develop these technologies in service learning classes dedicated to development. Please see: http://appropriatetechnology.peteschwartz.net/about-us/
  • Approximately 15 Cal Poly students engage in this research annually.
  • Increasingly, research is being conducted by students in Africa and Nepal, in secondary school, vocational schools, and colleges.

 

More Information: Besides the links above, please see: