{"id":848,"date":"2025-11-24T01:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T01:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/?p=848"},"modified":"2025-11-24T01:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T01:15:08","slug":"efficient-solar-pv-cooking-with-sand-based-thermal-energy-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/efficient-solar-pv-cooking-with-sand-based-thermal-energy-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Efficient solar PV cooking with sand-based thermal energy storage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scientists in Ghana have developed a device that combines a conventional solar PV-powered steam cooker with sand-based thermal energy storage. The system can achieve a thermal efficiency of 38.9% and has a payback period of 4.5 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A research group from Ghana has developed a solar PV-powered steam cooker (ISESC) with sand-based thermal energy storage (TES).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe potential of sand, given its thermal stability and low cost, has not been widely investigated. Existing research primarily utilizes diodes, resistive heaters, or induction systems as heat sources, with limited exploration of direct steam generation using stored heat in the sand,\u201d the academics said. \u201cThe integration of steam cooking with sand-based TES in solar PV-electric systems is a novel area, and its efficiency in steam production and food cooking remains unclear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tested setup comprises 20 photovoltaic (PV) modules, each with a maximum capacity of 580 W and an efficiency of 22.65%. The modules are mounted on a ground structure with a tilt angle of 10\u00b0 facing south and an azimuth angle of 0\u00b0. The electricity generated is directed to the thermal energy storage (TES) system, which consists of two components: a mild-steel sand container filled with quarry sand, in which a DC resistive heating element is embedded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above the sand layer, a water chamber containing 10 kg of water is installed, generating steam that heats the food within the cooking enclosure. The cooking chamber measures 143 cm in height, 150 cm in length, and 57.5 cm in width, while the thermal battery dimensions are 15 cm \u00d7 65.5 cm \u00d7 44 cm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testing was conducted at Kunst Senior High School in Kumasi, Ghana. Water boiling tests were performed daily from October 21 to 24, 2024, between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Cooking trials followed from November 5 to 7, 2024. Instruments used included a solar radiation meter, an infrared temperature gun, a voltmeter, an ammeter, and a thermal camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Results showed that the cooking chamber reached temperatures of 105\u2013110\u202fC, sufficient to cook 16\u202fkg of rice in 80 minutes, 16\u202fkg of beans in 140 minutes, and 32\u202fkg of plantain in 85 minutes. The ISESC achieved a thermal efficiency of 38.9%, exceeding the performance of Scheffler dish solar steam systems (25\u201326.5%) by approximately 12\u201314% under similar conditions. The sand-based TES stored 13\u201315\u202fMJ of energy, providing 4\u20136 hours of reliable cooking even under variable solar radiation of 400\u2013900\u202fW\/m\u00b2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifecycle cost analysis indicated a payback period of 4.5 years, with total costs over 20 years estimated to be 47% lower than those of traditional biomass stoves. The ISESC\u2019s annual emission savings were calculated as 5,312.22\u202fkg of CO\u2082, 11.10\u202fkg of NOx, and 7.05\u202fkg of PM2.5, contributing to reduced deforestation, lower indoor air pollution, and support for Ghana\u2019s nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists in Ghana have developed a device that combines a conventional solar PV-powered steam cooker…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}