Solar Electric Cooking

Sabbatical Trip Log: Sept 2022 – Sept 2023.  I visited collaborators, mostly Africa.  Please see this Project Summary.  Past research in Direct DC Solar Power.

Research with Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics, Resume / CV

 

 

 

 

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISECooker) is an insulated electrically-heated cooking chamber, allowing the user to cook over a long period with low power from a solar panel, from the grid, or from a combination that includes any electrical sources.  Energy can be stored thermally or in a battery.  Low-power cooking saves money by reducing electrical bills (if grid connected) or reducing the number of solar panels purchased.  The simplicity of ISECooking technology allows it to be manufactured in locations where it is used.  This manual describes basic concepts behind ISECooking rather than a step-by-step process.  Construction details will differ in each location depending on availability of parts, resources, construction equipment and expertise.

 

Background

According to the World Health Organization, 3 billion people in the world cook with biomass and coal; consequently, 4 million people die from associated emissions. In many communities, biomass cooking has lead to deforestation and can cause harmful pollution to the environment. Women are threatened by sexual assault when they leave their communities to collect firewood or purchase coal. The purpose of our research is to minimize the environmental impact and health issues that arise from biomass cooking.

 

Our Solution

Insulated Solar Electric Cooking (ISECooking): An electric heater connects directly to a solar panel inexpensively cooking food and providing electricity to charge batteries or power appliances. Having a lower power (~ 100 W) solar panel makes the device inexpensive (less than $100) but in order to cook, requires insulation. Thus, an ISECooker is a solar electric heater inside of a retained heat cooker.

 

Build your own ISECooker for under $30 (plus the cost of a 100 W solar panel)?  Please see our
General Construction Manual, continuously updated.

 

Learn more about ISECooking:

 

1) Our first paper explaining how a 100 W solar panel can cook food for a large family: Insulated Solar Electric Cooking – Tomorrow’s Healthy Affordable Stoves?, T. Watkins*, P. Arroyo*, R. Perry*, R. Wang*, O. Arriaga*, M. Fleming*, C. O’Day*, I. Stone*, J. Sekerak*, D. Mast*, N. Hayes*, P. Keller, P. Schwartz, Development Engineering 2 (2017) 47–52. See the  associated video.

 

2) Our most recent paper, describing the improvement with thermal storage: Phase change thermal storage: Cooking with more power and versatility Martin Osei*, Owen Staveland*, Sean McGowan*, Justin Brett Unger*, Nathan Robert Christler*, Matthew Weeman*, Marcus Edward Strutz*, Matthew Walker*, Megan Belle Maun*, Nicolas C. Dunning*, Marcorios M. Bekheit*, Jon Christian Papa Abraham*, Liam Cox*, Grace Gius*, Olivia Hansel*, Emmanuel Osei Amoafo, Nichole Hugo, Pete Schwartz, J. Solar Energy, 220, 2021, 1065-1073, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.03.040

 

3) We separate the pot with the food in it from the heater in order to make cooking more convenient. Please see this video about how to bake with the nested ISECooker

 

4) An article from Low-Tech magazine summarizing the role of insulation in cooking: If we Insulate Our Houses, Why Not Our Cooking Pots?

 

5) NPR on the beauty of good food slow cooked in a retained heat cooker

 

 

MECS Grant for Research and Dissemination: With $40,000 of UKAid funding via MECS, (Sept. 2019 – March 2020), we developed thermal storage at Cal Poly in California, and established a company in Ghana to build and distribute ISECookers while studying the adoption process.

We received a follow-up grant for $62,000 (August 2020 – July 2021) to continue improving the design and subsidize construction capacity in local enterprises in non-industrial countries. 

Collaborators:

Pete Schwartz, Physics Professor, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California, ISEC Principal Investigator.

Martin Osei, Graduate Student at Eastern Illinois University, Founder of SolCook, Ghana

Salma Bougoune, OSMER company of construction and distribution of  sustainable energy equipment, Togo. MECS collaborator.  Recently won the D-Prize for Distributing proven poverty intervention 

Hawazin of Spring of ’20, a team of professionals promoting novel technologies and lifestyle through collaborations and creative projects. MECS collaborator

Alexis Zeigler at Living Energy Farms, an intentional community exploring sustainable living accessible to low income communities. They plan to put introduce ISECooking in Jamaica. MECS collaborator. Progress videos: February 1, 2021, August 2021 newsletter

Uganda: African Stem Education Initiative (ASEI), contact: Mayanja Andrew

 

This work is part of our research toward radically inexpensive solar electricity. 

Please see our photo record of our meetings, such as this meeting in fall of 2021:

Publicity

Nick Wilson’s Story about us on the Physics Department Homepage

– Please visit our Forum on ISECooker construction and use**, started Oct. 2021.  (** you need to put the “www.” in front of “ISECforum.com” in order to get connected).
– Questions?  Contact me directly: pschwart@calpoly.edu

 

Contact: ISECteam.info@gmail.com

ISECook Resources and Archival Information