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==Events==
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See [[Calendar of events]]
 
==Recent News and Developments==
 
==Recent News and Developments==
 
[[File:SolarCycle1.jpg|300px|right]]
 
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Revision as of 17:45, 23 May 2010

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Events

See Calendar of events

Recent News and Developments

SolarCycle1
  • July 2009: John Tillman and Drew Durbin, both recent graduates of Brown University, learned about solar cookers while building and testing biogas stoves in Tanzania. They were inspired, and in 2008 formed SolarCycle, an organization that develops low-cost solar cookers and water pasteurizers that reduce environmental damage and health problems associated with cooking smoke and contaminated drinking water. According to SolarCycle, Tillman and Durbin designed a “revolutionary material” consisting of three layers: a substrate of fused recycled plastic grocery bags, a reflective layer of postindustrial metalized packaging film, and a transparent protective layer. The material can be used to build durable, inexpensive solar cookers and pasteurizers that “turn an urban trash problem into a potential solution for diarrheal illnesses and respiratory diseases.” SolarCycle’s cooker is stamped out of a sheet of SolarCycle reflective material and assembled into the shape of an inverted cone with a flat bottom. The cone is 3 feet in diameter at the top, 9 inches in diameter at the bottom, and stands two feet tall, while the sides are angled 30 degrees from vertical. The cooker is expected to cost about $5. The SolarCycle team has entered social entrepreneurship business plan competitions at numerous universities and has been extremely successful, winning first prize at Rice, Colorado State University, Georgetown, and the University of Wisconsin, as well as beating out over 1,000 entries for the Chartered Insurance Institute’s “Big Idea” competition.
    Mozambique Association for Urban Development March 2007
    SolarCycle’s winnings — in excess of $70,000 — have enabled it to open an office and purchase industrial machinery. SolarCycle is currently field testing its solar cookers and methods in Pemba, Mozambique.
  • April 2007: Maria dos Anjos Rosario taught a solar cooking class to 11th and 12th grade students at the Secondary School of the Superior Institute of Science and Technology. The class included discussion of how solar cookers work, construction of several models of solar cookers, solar cooking practice, analysis of the activities, and discussion of how to spread solar cooking. Rosario is president of the Mozambique Association for Urban Development, which promotes solar cookers, heat-retention cookers, and paper briquettes - a firewood and charcoal substitute. Contact: Maria dos Anos Rosario

The History of Solar Cooking in Mozambique

Little is known of solar cooking activities in Mozambique, other than the efforts of a faculty member at Eduardo Mondlane University, who had taught an American volunteer about the technology. The volunteer, Miho Kobashi then spent six months in a remote village, working as a teacher, and while there taught a number of villagers to make and use solar cookers. This small experiment used the CooKit that people made for themselves. As is usual, villagers were unwilling to believe that food could be cooked with a piece of cardboard, and were amazed to see the results of their experiment. (Solar Cooker Review, July 2003)

[Information for this section was taken originally from State of the Art of Solar Cooking by Dr. Barbara Knudson]

Climate, Culture, and Special Considerations

Solar Cookers International has rated Mozambique as the #16 country in the world in terms of solar cooking potential (See: The 25 countries with the most solar cooking potential). The estimated number of people in Mozambique with fuel scarcity but ample sun in 2020 is 3,800,000.

See also

Resources

Possible funders for solar cooking projects in Mozambique

Reports

Articles in the media

Web pages

Contacts

The entities listed below are either based in Mozambique, or have established solar cooking projects there:

SCI Associates

NGOs

Manufacturers and vendors

Individuals

Government agencies

Educational institutions

See also

References


See Also