Insulated Solar Electric Cooker or ISEC was developed in 2015 by Dr. Pete Schwartz and students at California Polytechnic State University (Calpoly), San Louis Obispo, CA, USA. It uses relatively low wattage solar panel ( like a 100 W panel , as opposed to 1000 W which could run an electric coil stove),

to slow cook around 5 Kg of food during the coarse of the day. Though slow cooking time, ISEC is still compelling as it eliminates (to an extend) the need for burning wood /coal for cooking, thereby improving air quality and preventing respiratory diseases and deforestation.

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Link to Dr. Pete Schwartz's research  - http://sharedcurriculum.peteschwartz.net/solar-electric-cooking/

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SOLAR ELECTRIC COOK - ISEC Company in Ghana

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In 2019, with $40,000 of UKAid funding via MECS, ISEC Research team established a company in Ghana called SolarElectricCook (https://solarelectriccook.com/) to build and distribute ISECs while studying the adoption process.

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Company profile  - https://www.linkedin.com/company/solcook-ghana-limited

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Now you can build your own ISEC ! . How cool...

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Refer Instruction manuals posted in Dr. Pete's Research Website:

  

http://sharedcurriculum.peteschwartz.net/solar-electric-cooking/

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Pros:

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• Clean cooking technology.

• Indoor cooking possible compared to parabolic solar cookers.

• No risk of UV rays exposure or eye damage due to outdoor solar cooking.

• System can be adapted to multiple applications, for example - provide electricity for charging appliances like mobile or solar powered light/fan, can be used to charge solar inverter batteries and use that power later, and so on..

• Nutritional benefits of slow cooking.

• Provided a rectifier module, system can be transformed to an Insulated "Electric" Cooker, and used for slow to medium speed cooking.

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Cons:

• Less efficiency and higher cost (though decreasing, it is still not really affordable to low income families) of solar panels

• Longer cooking time.

• More efficient during day time only (a challenge to working class customers).

• Less adaptability to traditional cooking methods.

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