Direct solar power - Revision history

Manul: add cooker section

2023-09-17T12:10:21Z

add cooker section

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:10, 17 September 2023
Line 32:		Line 32:

	The LOW←TECH MAGAZINE article mentions: "''A study of direct solar refrigerators in very sunny regions (Texas and New Mexico, USA) showed that they maintained their cooling capacity for 6 or 7 days without power supply. The units operated year-round with solar panels of only 80W to 120W."<ref>Ewert, M., et al. “Photovoltaic direct drive, battery-free solar refrigerator field test results.''” Proceedings of the solar conference. American solar energy society; American institute of architects, 2002.</ref>		The LOW←TECH MAGAZINE article mentions: "''A study of direct solar refrigerators in very sunny regions (Texas and New Mexico, USA) showed that they maintained their cooling capacity for 6 or 7 days without power supply. The units operated year-round with solar panels of only 80W to 120W."<ref>Ewert, M., et al. “Photovoltaic direct drive, battery-free solar refrigerator field test results.''” Proceedings of the solar conference. American solar energy society; American institute of architects, 2002.</ref>

			=== The cooker ===

			A single hot plate on a conventional cooker needs 1,000 watts of electrical power. A LOW←TECH MAGAZINE article describes the inefficiencies of the process of cooking using heat: "''The cooking process is similar to heating an uninsulated building with all the doors and windows open''".<ref>https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/07/if-we-insulate-our-houses-why-not-our-cooking-pots/</ref>

			A cooker using direct solar power packs the cooktop with thermal insulation.

			The LOW←TECH MAGAZINE article notes: "''Researchers at US California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) built the first solar electric cooker in 2015. Their 12-volt device, which has since been further developed, needs only a 100W solar panel to work. It boils a litre of water in an hour. With a full day of sunlight, it can cook almost 5 kg of beans, rice, stew or potatoes.''"<ref>http://sharedcurriculum.peteschwartz.net/solar-electric-cooking/</ref>

			"''Cooking after sunset is possible by using a cooking pot with a much thicker bottom (5-10 kg). Cal Poly’s research team managed to bring the temperature of that solid heat storage to 250°C in five hours with a 100W solar panel. They were then able to boil a litre of water in three seconds after sunset. In another test, they stir-fried 1 kg of vegetables in two minutes. The ideal configuration consists of two cooking pots: one with and one without heat storage. Thus, an electric solar cooker can cook both slowly and quickly, depending on the time of day and the dish.''"<ref>https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1747&context=mesp</ref>

	== Heating ==		== Heating ==

Manul at 12:02, 17 September 2023

2023-09-17T12:02:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:02, 17 September 2023
Line 31:		Line 31:
	Such a fridge would open at the top, instead of at the front. The cool air is heavier and this way of opening the fridge reduces energy consumption.		Such a fridge would open at the top, instead of at the front. The cool air is heavier and this way of opening the fridge reduces energy consumption.

	The LOW←TECH MAGAZINE article mentions: "A study of direct solar refrigerators in very sunny regions (Texas and New Mexico, USA) showed that they maintained their cooling capacity for 6 or 7 days without power supply. The units operated year-round with solar panels of only 80W to 120W."<ref>Ewert, M., et al. “Photovoltaic direct drive, battery-free solar refrigerator field test results.” Proceedings of the solar conference. American solar energy society; American institute of architects, 2002.</ref>		The LOW←TECH MAGAZINE article mentions: "''A study of direct solar refrigerators in very sunny regions (Texas and New Mexico, USA) showed that they maintained their cooling capacity for 6 or 7 days without power supply. The units operated year-round with solar panels of only 80W to 120W."<ref>Ewert, M., et al. “Photovoltaic direct drive, battery-free solar refrigerator field test results.''” Proceedings of the solar conference. American solar energy society; American institute of architects, 2002.</ref>

	== Heating ==		== Heating ==

Manul: add section on fridge

2023-09-17T12:02:00Z

add section on fridge

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 LOW←TECH MAGAZINE describes how the author has moved to using direct solar power for their home <ref>https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/08/direct-solar-power-off-grid-without-batteries/</ref>. Their article serves as the basis for this article.
 == Citations ==
 <references />

Manul: add intro

2023-09-17T10:40:57Z

add intro

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:40, 17 September 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	== Introduction ==		== Introduction ==

	~~Coming soon~~		Common solar power setups include four elements: solar panels, charge controller, inverter, and a battery pack. Out of these, the batteries are the ones that will need replacing sooner than the other components. Additionally, the more frequent replacement of the batteries also relies on fossil fuel to produce the equipment needed for the solar power setup. The batteries end up being the most costly component of the setup, and also the component with the largest fossil fuel footprint.

			We can move away from using batteries though a combination of optimizing the energy consumers in our house to only consume energy during the daytime (or when the sun shines on the panels) and a shift in our mentality away from "infinitely available" energy.

			LOW←TECH MAGAZINE describes how the author has moved to using direct solar power for their home <ref>https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/08/direct-solar-power-off-grid-without-batteries/</ref>. Their article serves as the basis for this article.

			== Citations ==

			<references />

Manul: initial page creation

2023-09-17T10:23:32Z

initial page creation

New page

== Introduction ==

Coming soon