Hi Pete,
Dr Betang, a medical doctor working in a government hospital in Douala ( Cameroon ) is a Program Manager at CLEAN AIR AFRICA ( Cameroon branch ) ; he watched our marketing video on youtube and was impressed by the technology ; he said , the ISEC was fantastic and that it could help them reaching their goals in Cameroon , which are to promote clean cooking among local communities and stop deforestation.
Dr Betang suggest we test a possibility to store the solar energy so that the ISEC must be available to cook anytime, no matter the weather.
In my opinion, we may have two possibilities, to make the ISEC , a permanent cooking solution :
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we add thermal storage on the ISEC ; but how long will it store heat ? how many hours ?
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we use a 3 ohms ISEC with a gel battery ; it will be expensive ( the purchase of gel battery is an additional expenditure to the ISEC ) and will be used by those who can afford the battery’s budget ; for example, if a 3 ohms ISEC uses 60 watts per hour , this means , with a 12V / 50 AH ( giving 50 x 12=600 watts of energy ) , it’s possible to use the ISEC anytime of the day -and no matter the weather-for 5 hours of cooking daily ( as the gel battery must not be discharged for more than 50% of its storage capacity ) ; the user must then install a whole solar energy system including many solar panels, an MPPT controller and the gel battery ; additionally, he can also use the solar system for light tonight.
Waiting for your comments, and let’s discuss about this issue, during the SG meeting .
Dr Betang told me he is expecting our reply about the solar energy storage issue , for using the ISEC anytime of the day.
Regards
Bidjanga