Shpogy Secondary School

Research work in English

Authors: Laura Lāčauniece, Jānis Stupelis

The Adviser of the Research Work:Eva Vovka

Shpogy, 2013

• TTo o makemake a solar cooker from recycled a solar cooker from recycled materials at schoolmaterials at school..

The aim:The aim:

The tasks:The tasks:• To collaborate with the Comenius partners and share the

experience on the issue mentioned in the aim of the research work.

• To collect theoretical information about a solar cooker;• To make the solar cooker;• To test it;• To compare our solar cooker with the cookers of our

Comenius partners;• To summarize the results of the research work and present

the results.

Methods: work with literary resources, observation, research, analyses, comparison

The sun is one of the humanity's most important tool for survival. It gives off unlimited amounts of light and heat.

Natural and simple technologies like solar cookers can reduce or even replace fossil fuels, they do not produce waste. Moreover, materials to build it can mostly be found from recycled sources which makes it even more sustainable.

A solar cooker is a device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize food or drink.

Theoretical PartTheoretical Part

Panel cookers.Panel cookers.• This cooker works by means of a parabolic reflector,

which concentrates the rays of the sun on the pan and heats it. It is possible to reach high temperatures and, consequently, besides cooking, it is also possible to bake and fry.

• The only task for the cook is to rotate the cooker about every 20 min in order to orientate it towards the solar rays.

It is because of the earth’s rotation.

• These are in use in refugee camps around the world.

BBox cookersox cookers• It was first built by Horace de Saussure in 1767; Later

Augustin Mouchout developed the idea of solar cooking.

• 90–150 °C temperature can be reached. For best results clear sunny days are necessary.

• It has a glass or Plexiglas cover, this cover is like a greenhouse window- it lets the sunlight in but does not let infrared radiation out. This type cookers also have a reflector which increases the amount of energy the cooker receives. This device exploits solar energy to cook food or just heat it.

Parabolic cookerParabolic cookerThe first parabolic solar cooker was developed in the 1950s by M L Ghai at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Delhi, India. These ovens are usually made having a concave disks that focus the light onto the bottom of a pot. They cook food about as fast as on a conventional stove. Since the concentrated sunlight shines directly on the bottom of a pot, the pot heats up and cooks very quickly. Widely used in China.

Practical part• Panel cookerPanel cooker:• To make a solar cooker we need a shiny surface to reflect and

concentrate the Sun’s energy. We took an aluminum bowl.

• We had few sunny days in winter. We could not make a real solar cooker by using solar power as an alternative we took a lamp

ExperimentExperiment

In 20 min the cooker reached 35 °C

temperature and chocolate started

to melt.

In 40 min the cooker reached 70 °C

temperature and candle started to

melt.

Practical partPractical partParabolic reflector cooker:

QUESTIONAIREQUESTIONAIRE

Solar cookers made by our partnersSolar cookers made by our partners

ConclusionConclusionThe research work is based on Comenius activity- sustainable or renewable energy resources. Science teacher Dr Rajinder from Germany gave a lecture how to make a solar cooker and ten countries made the cookers. He wanted to tell us that renewable energy is important and beneficial:•Environmental benefits;•Energy for next generations; •Workplaces and the economy;•Energy security.Unfortunately the survey carried out proves that in Latvia we have poor awareness of sustainable energy resources. It is strongly recommended to assess the priorities and to think about the future.

COMENIUS TEAM. COMENIUS TEAM. The part of the team