Solar Cooking
Register
mNo edit summary
(combining SolSource articles)
 
(30 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
  +
#Redirect[[SolSource]]
[[File:SolSource_3-in-1_in_China_4-24-10.jpg|thumb|350px|[[SolSource 3-in-1]] in use with Himalayan community members.]]
 
The '''SolSource 3-in-1''' is a combination solar cooker, heater, and electricity generator being developed by Wellesley College, Harvard, MIT, and Qinghai Normal University students. It recently has won a P3 national award at the 6th annual National Sustainable Design Expo held at the National Mall in Washington, DC, on April 24-25, 2010. The student team is working to help bring clean energy to the rural Himalayas. The goal is to promote awareness about energy choices and to make clean energy device manufacture a feasible option for local income generation. They have developed the SolSource 3-in-1 with [[One Earth Designs]] (OED), a U.S.-based nonprofit organization.
 
 
The device not only enables rural communities to harness the sun’s energy for portable solar cooking, but for space heating and electricity generation as well. High-temperature parabolic solar cookers are currently available and used in Himalayan communities. However, they are often made out of mirror-lined concrete shells that are heavy and breakable. Many nomadic villagers shared with OED a desire for parabolic solar cookers that are portable enough to be taken into the fields while working or tending flocks, but sturdy enough to withstand the harsh winds of the Tibetan Plateau. OED worked with rural communities in the Himalayan region to design the SolSource 3-in-1 according to these local needs and with local materials when feasible. The reflective component of the SolSource 3-in-1 is a lightweight, foldable parabolic shell comprised of several triangular yak-wool canvas panels stretched across a curved bamboo frame and lined with aluminized polyester film (Mylar®). This shell sits on detachable legs that can be staked to the ground to prevent the cooker from blowing over. Multiple functions are performed by attaching one of three interchangeable modules to the center of the shell at the focal area. The first module cooks food and pasteurizes water. Its high focal temperature enables traditional cooking that relies primarily on stir-frying and boiling water for tea and tsampa. A second module collects and stores heat for later use in the home. As journalist Julia Levitt reports on worldchanging.com, the SolSource 3-in-1 “generates enough heat at its focal point to bring a kettle of water to boil in about five to seven minutes. … While it is in use, the device generates heat to warm the home.” A third module generates and stores about 20 watts of thermo-electricity per hour.
 
 
==See also==
 
*[[One Earth Designs]]
 
 
==External links==
 
 
 
==Contact==
 
[[Catlin Powers]]<br />
 
Chief Operating Officer<br />
 
[[One Earth Designs]](OED)
 
[[Category:Solar cooker designs]]
 
[[Category:China]]
 
[[Category:Parabolic solar cooker designs]]
 
[[Category:USA]]
 

Latest revision as of 18:54, 26 June 2013

Redirect to: