[Stoves] Sun Buckets: off topic news, introduction

[Mangolazi]

Hi there, congratulations on the award winning thermal battery design. 

Even at the equator, you're not getting constant bright sun throughout the day and during the monsoon season you could get stretches of cloudy or rainy days. Solar cookers could be used for baking bread (more for South Asia I'd guess) and for slow simmering for soups, beans, rice etc. TLUD and biomass cookers could then be used for stir frying and fast cooking. 

My own experience with solar cookers involves DIY wood and foil contraptions. They're great for baking if/when the sun is shining bright, not so great when it's cloudy. On the other hand, having both solar and biomass cookers helps even out seasonal variations - you might have lots of biomass and not much sun during one half of the year, with lots of sun and not much biomass during the other half. 


On January 4, 2017 9:30:13 AM GMT+08:00, "Ronal W. Larson" <rongretlarson at comcast.net> wrote:
>David and list  - and cc some solar cooking friends
>
>	Congratulations on this modification of the usual solar cooker.  And
>on the two awards that Sun Buckets has already won.
>
>	It might seem you are on the wrong list - as we get little traffic re
>solar cookers - and our “biomass” address would suggest this is
>normally be the wrong place.   But I see three connections (that I have
>mentioned recently to the ccs), that make this entirely appropriate for
>out stove list.
>
>	a).  There could be reasons to employ the same storage concept at a
>family (maybe neighborhood) level with any form of biomass stove.  I
>think it would fit especially well with TLUD stoves - as they could be
>designed at a large (one full day of cooking) size - and one day’s
>cooking could be much less time consuming than at present.  No solar
>involvement at all in approach a).
>
>	b).   There could be good reason for option a)  (such as very high
>fuel costs) to also want to couple a fully biomass approach with (zero
>fuel cost ) solar.  
>
>	c).   Every solar option needs a backup - and biomass is the usual
>choice (except in the USA).
>			The backup need not make charcoal - but the solar cookers can never
>be carbon negative;  TLUDs can make that happen.  Which won’t happen
>normally with a liquid (LPG) etc.
>
>	So I’d like to continue this dialog with anyone interested.  Because
>of all the option a), b), c) possibilities,  this dialog could remain
>on this list.  I suggest we stay away from the solar-only topic you
>brought to us.  And we can leave this list if a few think it is
>detracting from our biomass stove dialog.
>
>	I was employed at what is now NREL in Golden Colorado and have several
>friends with extensive experience in high temperature thermal storage
>(even little myself). I’ve been a member of SCI on and off.
>
>	My friend Dr. Salih Hamadto (in Khartoum Sudan) has sold many
>concentrators of the Scheffler variety - which I think might end up
>being a preferred approach -  instead of paraboloids.  All the ccs know
>about biochar - which I think has a much more natural fit with your
>nice idea than our rocket enthusiasts.
>
>Ron
>
>
>
>
>> On Jan 3, 2017, at 12:51 PM, David Stein <ambwat at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Dear All,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I am a newcomer to the Stoves list but I’ve spent some time in the
>household energy sector in developing Vanuatu which is where I met
>Nikhil.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I am fascinated by solar cooking these days.  There are many
>potential socio-economic and environmental benefits of solar cooking
>and they are all very seductive.  Just thinking about fuel-free and
>emission-free cooking is intoxicating.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> However, it seems that it is difficult to achieve the potential
>benefits of solar cooking (especially in the developing world) largely
>because those that dwell in hot climates (which is where much of the
>developing world seems to be located) have developed lifestyles that
>minimize exposure to the sun whereas most methods of solar cooking
>require the cook to be out in the sun, often at times of the day that
>aren’t typical cooking times.  These facts make the difficult task of
>changing the cooking habits of cooks even more challenging.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> But it appears as though the Sun Bucket http://www.sunbuckets.com/
><http://www.sunbuckets.com/>  “cracks all of these nuts.”  This amazing
>innovation is “charged” with the heat of sunshine and the heat is
>stored in a “sun bucket” (phase change “”battery”) where it can be used
>when (like in the evening or early morning) and where (like inside a
>kitchen) it is needed.  It cooks as hot as cooking on fire and existing
>cooking pots and pans can be used so there is minimal need for changes
>in cooking behavior.  It also seems very affordable.  I guess it’s what
>they call transformational. 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> It looks as though a Sun Bucket should be a part of every integrated
>coking scheme (solar cooking when it's sunny, using an Improved Cook
>Stove when it's not, and maybe using a retained heat cooker with both)
>everywhere the sun shines in the developing world.  I can hardly wait
>for the Sun Bucket to be unleashed to the world-wide market of cooks
>that could really use them.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Best wishes for the coming year.
>> 
>> David Stein
>> 
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