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Last edited: 19 June 2023      
Pete Schwartz July 2014

Pete Schwarz speaking at the SCInet Solar Cooking Convention 2014

Pete Schwartz, Professor in the Physics Department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California, USA.

In 2015, Pete Schwartz' students invented ISEC (Insulated Solar Electric Cooking), building the first prototype in three days before driving it to the Solar Cookers International conference in Sacramento, California to roast a chicken stew. Since then, they have continued to collaboratively develop and disseminate the technology, adding a USB charging port and Heat storage capacity with erythritol phase change material (PCM). Collaborations are often built through our appropriate technology classes and include a company that they started in Ghana in August 2019, funded by MECS. Read more at the ISEC research page.

Pete's involvement with solar cooking began in 2007, with particular interest in Scheffler Reflectors and other polar tracking heliostats, but changed to solar electric cooking after extrapolating the decrease in solar panel costs.

News[]

Publications[]

Audio and video[]

  • June 2023: An aluminum plug welded to the bottom of an aluminum pot quickly boils water using only retained heat
Thermal_Storage_Water_Boil_10_kW,_Kathmandu,_Pete_Schwartz,_Cal_Poly_Physics

Thermal Storage Water Boil 10 kW, Kathmandu, Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics

Video credit: Pete Schwartz

  • February 2023:
Pete_Schwartz-_All_In_With_Insulated_Solar_Electric_Cooking-2

Pete Schwartz- All In With Insulated Solar Electric Cooking-2

Video credit: Big Blue Museum

  • November 2022: A demonstration workshop in high power ISEC cooking in Togo
HighPower_ISECooking-2

HighPower ISECooking-2

We boiled a liter of water in 2 seconds. prototyping our new Insulated Solar Electric Cooker at the workshop in Togo. corresponding to 100 kW, like 100 times the power of a microwave oven. Then we recharged it for an hour and dumped in 1 kg of veggies and finished a stir fry in about 2 minutes

  • June 2021:
Insulated_Solar_Electric_Cooking_with_Thermal_Storage,_EWB_Sweden,_Pete_Schwartz,_Cal_Poly_Physics-2

Insulated Solar Electric Cooking with Thermal Storage, EWB Sweden, Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics-2

Pete Schwartz presents his team's latest findings, as they develop different approaches to insulated solar electric cooking. He predicts an eventual decline in the use of phase change materials (PCMs) to retain the heat for cooking, as batteries become a more efficient and less expensive way to store energy. This may happen in the next ten years. In the meantime, a solid block of aluminum is showing promise as a simpler way to store heat compared with PCMs.

  • February 2021:
Alternative_ISEC_Manual_Walkthrough

Alternative ISEC Manual Walkthrough

Presentation by Alexis Ziegler of the Living Energy Farm (http://livingenergyfarm.org/) about their alternative construction manual for Insulated Solar Electric Cookers

  • January 2021:
Insulated_Solar_Electric_Cooker-_Progress_for_ETHOS_2021,_Pete_Schwartz,_Cal_Poly_Physics

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker- Progress for ETHOS 2021, Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics

  • August 2019:
Solar_Electric_Cooking_in_Ghana_With_Phase_Change_Thermal_Storage,_Pete_Schwartz,_Cal_Poly_Physics

Solar Electric Cooking in Ghana With Phase Change Thermal Storage, Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics

August, 2019, we spent 3 weeks in Ghana. We made Solar Electric Cookers with Phase Change Thermal Storage with our newly made friends and colleagues. We introduced this cooking method in a small village without electricity

  • October 2018: 
  • February 2017:
Insulated_Solar-Electric_Cooking_Technology_and_Uganda,_Pete_Schwartz,_Cal_Poly_Physics

Insulated Solar-Electric Cooking Technology and Uganda, Pete Schwartz, Cal Poly Physics

See Cal Poly Solar Cooking.

  • September 2015:
  • August 2015:
Why_is_SCI_Important_to_You?_Pete_Schwartz

Why is SCI Important to You? Pete Schwartz

Pete Schwartz an Associate Professor with the Cal Poly physics department in San Luis Obispo, California, USA, quickly explains why SCI is an important resource for his teaching curriculum.

  • July 2014:
Schwartz_Inexpensive,_High_Performance_Solar_Concentrators_for_less_than_$0_1_per_Watt

Schwartz Inexpensive, High Performance Solar Concentrators for less than $0 1 per Watt

External links[]

See also[]

Contact[]

Pete Schwartz
1441 Iris St.
San Luis Obispo, California 93401
USA

Tel: +1 805-756-1220

Email: pschwart@calpoly.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpscheffler
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_ymV_bBqsqzUYUgPh6rPw