SoCoNexGen

Aim of SoCoNexGen

SoCoNexGen aims to develop secure, reliable, easy to use and environmentally friendly solar cooking technologies for domestic use. Four different solar indoor cookers, powered by solar thermal collectors and/or photovoltaic panels will be tested.

Background

The project seeks to provide an easy to use, environmentally friendly, secure and healthy way of cooking, providing relief for the population, especially in remote dry regions of North Africa with high solar irradiance. The cookers developed in the project will rely on solar energy, allowing the replacement of stoves emitting greenhouse gases. While contributing to reducing pollution, the project also contributes to the reduction in deforestation  and the expansion of deserts, by providing an alternative to wood as a way to power cookers.  To enable uptake of solar cooking methods, SoCoNexGen focuses on acceptance among the end users of the solar cookers, enabling an indoor and flexible use.

About the project

SoCoNextGen seeks to present the concept of Solar Indoor Cooking Systems of the Next Generation. By combining the individual expertise of partners, e.g. in the areas of solar thermal systems, PV systems, solar cooker testing procedures, development of simulation models as well as thermal and electrical energy storage solutions, mature solar cooker systems will be developed.

The solar cookers will have two specificities that will contribute to greater acceptance. They will be designed such that they can be fully integrated into buildings for domestic or commercial use. The ability to cook indoors contributes to a high acceptance level amongst the population compared to outdoor-only systems. They are also designed to allow a simple operation and power regulation will deploy thermal and/or battery energy storage technology. The application of energy storage technologies allows the flexible use of the cookers even during the evening, night or morning.

As part of the project, a comprehensive potential study is carried out in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to identify the potential application in specific national regions. Two dissemination workshops are going to be carried out in which the project results will be presented and shared with private, public, political and industrial stakeholders in order to promote the dissemination of the systems in North Africa. At the end of the project, extensive test results of the different solar cookers will be available and allow the comparison among each other and the evaluation of the application potential in North Africa.

Expected Results

Specific expected results include:

• Enabling the preparation of traditional dishes and food products, including deep fried and baked dishes with cooking temperatures of up to 250 °C
• Energy storage solution to allow more flexible cooking times
• Developed and validated simulation tools
• Creation of a standard testing procedure for solar cookers
• Knowledge about the cooker performance