The focus of project SoCoNexGen is on the design, construction, experimental testing and analysis of four different indoor solar cookers.

Between July 2023 and September 2023, progress was made particularly in the construction of three solar cookers that are designed and built in Germany. The German partners anticipate to carry out functional tests very soon before the solar cookers are shipped to their destinations in Algeria, Tunisia and Portugal.

The Moroccan partner who designed one of the four solar cookers worked on the reduction of thermal losses by insulating the resistance heater and successfully tested the solar cooker in the laboratory, among other things. The measured hot plate temperature, cooking power and electrical characteristics agree well with the expectations and first results of their simulation model.

The North African partners held a joint meeting in Tunis in July 2023 to discuss and further elaborate a potential study investigating the potential for the different solar cookers in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The Moroccan partner is also in contact with universities, companies and potential solar cooker users in other countries. For example, a face-to-face meeting took place between the Moroccan partner and the University of Thiés (Senegal) in July 2023 to exchange details about the Moroccan solar cooker system and to discuss the application potential in Senegal. A third meeting was held between the Moroccan partner and a Moroccan organisation committed to support people with autism. Here the possible future integration of the solar cooker technology in the facility’s kitchen was discussed.

More about SoCoNexGen: https://www.leap-re.eu/soconexgen/