SOLAR COOKER ----A MUST HAVE FOR GREENER INDIA

To popularize the solar cookers in urban areas the Ministry has formulated a strategy to introduce cookers with electrical backup which consume low electrical power.

Solar cookers are available with and without electrical back in different sizes and can be procured from dealers/manufacturers/nodal agencies/Aditya solar shops all over India.

A family size solar cooker is sufficient for 4 to 5 members and saves about 3 to 4 cylinders of LPG every year. Life of this cooker is 10 to 20 years. This cooker costs around Rs. 1000 after allowing for subsidy.

Concentrating solar cookers have been developed and deployed but the quantity is low and until wider acceptance is gained or some modification is made in the concentrating solar cooker which will allow the solar rays to be directed to a hot spot inside the kitchen, people will shy away from these giant contraptions.

A community type parabolic concentrating solar cooker developed by ULOG Group of Switzerland is being promoted by an NGO in Gujarat and has met with moderate success. This cooker is designed to direct the solar heat to a secondary reflector inside the kitchen which focuses the heat to the bottom of a cooking pot. This cooker costs upward of Rs. 50000 and it is also possible to actually fry, bake and roast food. More than 50 such cookers have been deployed under a project sponsored by Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute and Gujarat Energy Development Agency.

Unique in India is the solar steam cooking system installed at Brahmakumari’s Ashram at Mount Abu with financial assistance from German Government. This system consists of 24 Scheffler paraboloid reflectors, two each of which are installed to focus sunlight on a square type insulated fin and tube receiver. Twelve such receivers are focused by 24 reflectors. The concentrators track the Sun automatically using a mechanical clockwork arrangement and a DC motor run by photovoltaic power panel helps in resetting the reflectors to face the Sun as required. This system generates 500 Kgs of steam which is enough to cook two meals for 500 people. More than 1000 people can expect to receive cooked food from this system within an hour, provided sunshine is adequate.