Archive for the ‘Diverse engelsk’ Category
New solar cooker designs
The Forum is the place to present your designs of new solar cookers.
If you have a new design describe it first here and attach photos or design plans as well.
Don’t add it to this discussion, but start a new discussion, using the discussion title to name your new solar cooker.
Good luck!
Magnar
moderator of SolarCookers
Solar Cooking and Health
Recently I came across a very nice article of health and solar cooking from Boiling Point No 52, 2006 by Darwin O’Ryan Curtis of Solar Household Energy Inc. You can find the whole article in Practical Action here: http://practicalaction.org/practicalanswers/product_info.php?products_id=182
I would like to share some health related parts of this article wich I found very good here on solarcookers.ning.com. It gives a very nice overview of many of the health benefits of solar cooking, and it shares a lot of detailed information as well. Here are some major points conserning health:
- Solar cooking reduzes respiratory diseases. Glaucoma is the name for a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged at the point where it leaves the eye. Glaucoma is identified as a major health problem, and it is believed that people are considerably more at risk when exposed to toxic smoke.
- Burn caused by small children falling into open cooking fires. The Burn Unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa admits almost 1000 patients a year, ranging from newborn babies to
13-year-old children. - Rape: Wherever there is political unrest, as in Darfur and Somalia now women are at high risk of rape and murder when they leave their villages to forage for fuel wood.
- Improve drinking water.
- Pasteurizing water gives an immediate and lasting reduction of endemic water-borne diseases like guinea worm. Solar cookers makes it cheaper and easier to cook food so that it contains less pathogens, can improve health.
Solar Cooking and Health
The good news is that it is possible to breathe fresh air at the same time as cooking – using a solar cooker. Solar cooking produces no smoke at all.
In the past, the main reason for people adopting solar cooking was to reduce the environmental degradation caused by using too much fuel wood. More recently, respiratory diseases caused by toxic smoke from
cooking fires have been recognized as a major health problem. They kill
1.5 million women and children each year, according to the World Health
Organization (WHO). Solar cookers address these major threats to health
as well.
Solar cooking technology has been around for decades, but has been poorly understood and has not been widely disseminated. Here are some
ideas on what solar cooking is about, and its capabilities – as well as
its limitations.
Overcoming barriers to acceptance
Solar energy was promoted as an alternative cooking fuel from the 1980s. Two principal barriers blocked its initial acceptance, however:
- Cultural resistance; people have used wood to cook since the inception of the domestic fire. Acceptance of so radical a change as
cooking with solar energy can only happen where there is real need. With
ever-increasing desertification on one hand and population increases on
the other, the need is growing rapidly. - The other initial barrier to solar cooking’s broad acceptance was the indifferent quality and/or high cost of available solar cooking
equipment, and the lack of experience introducing it. Today, several
efficient solar cookers are available at relatively modest cost;
experience has sharpened advocates’ understanding of how to achieve
cultural acceptance.
Benefits to health
Here are some health problems, apart from respiratory diseases, and ways in which solar energy is being used to alleviate them:
Polluted drinking water
Dr. Mercy Bannerman won a World Bank Development Marketplace prize in 2002. With this funding she distributed 1600 solar cookers in northern
Ghana and provided training in their use to pasteurize water. She noted
an immediate and lasting reduction of endemic water-borne diseases like
guinea worm.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the name for a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged at the point where it leaves the eye. This is
identified as a major health problem, and it is believed that people are
considerably more at risk when exposed to toxic smoke.
The danger from open fires
Thousands of small children are maimed each year through falling into cooking fires. For example the Burn Unit of the Red Cross War Memorial
Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa admits almost 1000 patients
a year, ranging from newborn babies to 13-year-old children (Children’s
Hospital Trust).
Violence
Wherever there is political unrest, as in Darfur and Somalia now, women are at high risk of rape and murder when they leave their villages
to forage for fuel wood. And, because of the environmental degradation
caused by this practice, they have to go ever farther to find it.
Insufficient and unsafe diet
Increasingly, the diets of people in the developing world are being adversely affected by shortages of fuel wood. Improving food safety,
through making it cheaper and easier to cook food so that it contains
less pathogens, can improve health. In some places, people are forced to
barter some of their limited food supplies to obtain fuel with which to
cook the rest. Reducing the cost of fuel increases money for food.
Cultural acceptance of solar cooking
There are very large numbers of reports of uses of, and demands for, solar cookers. For example, we have letters from village officials in
Bolivia pleading for more solar cookers; similar letters from women’s
groups in Senegal; the assertions of Haitian women that they often solar
cook two meals a day; pictures of a solar restaurant in northern Chile,
and so on.
In addition, there are scientific evaluations of solar cooking education and distribution programs. For example:
- In 1995, Solar Cookers International conducted a training program at the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya. In 1998, the program was evaluated. A random sampling of the women who had been trained three years before continued to solar cook 54% of their meals.A
similar evaluation conducted at the Aisha refugee camp in Ethiopia in
2001determined that fuel wood usage in the camp was down 32% following
the introduction of solar cookers. - In 2005, an evaluation was completed in a series of Bolivian villages. It assessed promotions conducted by David and Ruth Whitfield in preceding years. It found that solar cooking families had reduced
their fuel expenses 40% in the dry season and 35% in the wet season.
Unlike photovoltaic solar devices that convert solar energy to electricity, passive ones simply catch solar energy and convert it directly to heat. They are much simpler and much less costly. Other
‘passive’ solar devices contributing to good health include: food
driers, through-the-wall solar ovens permitting access from indoors,
autoclaves which sterilize equipment for rural hospitals, and ovens that
can burn medical waste. In India there is a giant solar oven, designed
by Wolfgang Scheffler, that cooks for 20,000 pilgrims a day! The fuel,
of course, is free. The utility of a solar cooking device should be judged by what it can
do in the location in which it is set to work. In the right location, it can reduce exposure to toxic smoke, protect from the dangers of fire,
improve women’s quality of life. It can also reduce fuel costs and alleviate stress on the environment. What solar cookers won’t do is cook in the dark, or under overcast or rainy skies. (Thus, it will not
prepare one’s morning tea unless, of course, one stays in bed till very late!)
Many people say that solar cooked food is better because little or no water needs to be added, which would otherwise dilute the taste. Try it and see.
How quickly will it boil water?
Parabolic solar ovens can do that in a matter of minutes. Box and panel ovens take longer – but will in fact boil water. It should be noted that cooking does not even require boiling in most cases – food
cooks at 82°C, and water is pasteurized at only 65°C.
References
- WHO Global burden of disease due to indoor air pollution http://www.who.int/indoorair/health_impacts/burden_global/en/index.html
- Children’s Hospital Trust: http://www.childrenshospitaltrust.org.za/news.asp?PageID=263
- Knudson, B and B. Lankford. 1998. Executive Summary of a Solar Oven Promotion Program Evaluation in Kenya._ Solar Cookers
International, Sacramento, California. - Pell, C. 2005. Solar Cookers in Bolivia: Patterns of usage, social impacts and complexities of enumeration. Masters thesis, the
Anthropology Department, University College London - Solar Cookers International (SCI). 1999. Executive Summary of a Solar Oven Promotion Program in Ethiopia. Solar Cookers International,
Sacramento, California.
Further reading
- Solar Cookers in the Third World by Klaus Kuhnke, Marianne Reuber & Schwefel. GTZ
- Moving Ahead with Solar Cookers: Acceptance and Introduction to the Market, GTZ, March 1999.
- Something New Under The Sun: A Manual for Solar Box Cookers, Technology for Life
- “Making the Most of Sunshine” by S. Narayanaswamy, (New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House PVT LTD, 2001)
Darwin O’Ryan Curtis
Solar Household Energy, Inc.
P. O. Box 15063
Chevy Chase
MD 20815
U.S.A
E-mail: darwincurtis@comcast.net
Website: http://www.she-inc.org/
Boiling Point – HEDON Household Energy Network
c/o Eco Ltd.
401 Southborough Lane
Bromley
London
BR2 8BH
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 84674347
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(0)20 84674347 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +44 (0)870 137 2360
E-mail: boilingpoint@hedon.info
Website: www.hedon.info
The HEDON Household Energy Network is an informal forum dedicated to
improving social, economic, and environmental conditions in the South,
through promotion of local, national, regional and international
initiatives in the household energy sector.
Practical Action
The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development
Bourton-on-Dunsmore
Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1926 634400
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+441926634400″ class=”skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_common”> +44
(0)1926 634400 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +44 (0)1926 634401
E-mail: inforserv@practicalaction.org.uk
Website: http://www.practicalaction.org/
Solar Cookers International
1919 21st Street, #101
Sacramento
California 95814
USA
Tel: +1 (916) 455 4499
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(916) 455 4499 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +1 (916) 455 4498
E-mail: info@solarcookers.org
Website: http://www.solarcooking.org/
Wiki: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page/
http://practicalaction.org/practicalanswers/product_info.php?products_id=182
Bergen kommune med 6000 lisenser
Vi er opptatt av at våre kunder skal ha en lett hverdag, preget av oversikt og god arbeidsflyt. Derfor lytter vi også til våre kunder, og det er moro hver gang de er fornøyde – og det skjer hele tiden!
Les tilbakemeldingen fra Bergen kommune som har 6000 lisenser av Moonscape Protection:
Tilbakemeldinger fra både lærere og elever på løsningen er veldig positiv, det viktigste for alle parter er at PC’en virkernår den skal til ny time – og det gjør de
Bergen Kommune har i perioden august 2004 – februar 2005 rullet ut 3000 nye skole PC-er og har trukket frem følgende suksessfaktorer i prosjektet:
Moonscape, som gjør at PC’ene kommer opp med friskt oppsett ved hver omstart, minsker plunder og heft, samt angrep av datavirus og spam.
I tillegg sier de:
“Det var et overordnet mål å få til en løsning som gjør at lokalt utstyr virker til hver ny skoletime og redusere plunder og heft faktoren for både elever og lærere. For å få til dette måtte mulighetene for at elever kunne ”rote” til oppsett lokalt begrenses, og det ble gjort mye arbeid og testing ift. dette. Resultatet ble anskaffelse av 3. parts programvare fra Moonscape, som gjør at en PC ved hver omstart, kopierer inn orginalt oppsett. IKT-kontaktene kan installere programvare og ekstrautstyr, og har derfor mulighet for å endre oppsett. Så langt er erfaringene med denne løsningen veldig bra.”
Og ikke minst:
”I tillegg er vi også veldig fornøyd med den service som vi har fått fra dere – og håper at det gode samarbeidet fortsetter fremover. Vi skal igang med flere prosjekter hvor vi har valgt eller vurderer å ta i bruk Moonscape”
Read more on Moonscape:
Bergen kommune med 6000 lisenser
Hvordan få en stabil elev pc ?
Du som er ansvarlig for elev PC’ene kjenner deg sikkert igjen i at du bruker mye tid på å fikse elev PC’er. Enten fordi elever har installert alt mulig på PC’en, eller fordi det er kommet malware, virus og andre uønskede programmer på den.
Så hvordan unngår du problemet?
Bruk Moonscape Protection til å passe på alle elev PC’ene. Du vil til enhver tid kunne logge deg på din administrator kontroll, og se hva som er installert på hver enkelt elev PC. I tillegg kan du med noen tastetrykk hente hele skole PC’en tilbake til utgangspunktet, uten å måtte ha maskinen inn til deg fysisk.
Moonscape Protection gjør ditt som administrator av elev PC’er lettere – mye lettere!
Read more on Moonscape:
Hvordan få en stabil elev pc ?
Moonscape WAN control – Revolusjonerende enkelt
Gjennopprett klient PC på ferie i Kina!
Så enkelt er det!
Med WAN konsollet og server installert hos deg, kan du nå alle klienter fra hvor enn du befinner deg i verden over forskjellige subnet. Fra WAN konsollet kan du gjøre alle Moonscape funksjonene, legge inn tidsoppgaver, kjøre kommandoer, overføre filer…ja; det meste!
Med andre ord behøver du ikke være på kontoret ditt for å utføre jobben din: Du kan fikse andres PC’er via Internett 
Egen Inventory modul
Som tilleggsmodul i WAN konsollet kan du idag få oversikt over software, hardware og oppdateringer installert på alle klientene dine ( maks 65000 klienter, så det er nærmest ubegrenset… )
Brenn image til CD
Hvis du vil sikre deg maksimalt, også mot harddisk krasj, har vi bygd inn drive image, så du enkelt kan brenne ut image eller tanke opp PC fra image CD.
Hvor enkel hverdag vil du ha?
Velg Moonscape Protection for den beste hverdagen!
Read more on Moonscape:
Moonscape WAN control – Revolusjonerende enkelt
Circular Solar Cooker
To mark the big climatic event with the world top leaders that takes place in New Your these days, this is my two cent to save the planet. Hopefulle it gives inspiration to twist your head once again to find new ways you can reduce CO2. I think it is time to look for new solutions in all directions. Solar cooking is one of them, and I have just made a new design wich I call a Circular Solar Cooker.
The Circular SoIar Cooker is a foldable solar cooker that is easy to carry, easy to set up and of course easy to fold. The material should resist high temperature and should be soft and of course highly reflective. The two circles is holding the reflectors together with some lightweight support structures. The idea is that it finds its form automtically when you take it out of the carring bag. To fold the circular solar cooker you just twist the two circles. This feature makes them very mobile and easy to bring with you. The diameter of the full model is 120 cm. Folded together in the bag it takes up 60 cm. All angles are 60 degrees. Both the two foldable circles and the other reflectors are making a 60 degree angle. The inner part of the reflector is following the form of a circle or cylinder up to 60 degrees in each direction.
For the inner reflector the idea is to make use of the simple structure of a circle or a cylinder and at the same time make sure all the sunlight is reflected towards the hot cooking pot. The interesting thing is that a 120 degree sector of the cylinder is not too different from a parabolic structure. The spread of the reflected sunlight is not more than 20 cm in the center of the solar cooker. To bulid a model that make use of this concept is also very simple. Cut out 120degrees of a cylinder and glue a reflector to it. To boost this some more I have added 60 degrees reflectors parallel to the edge. These reflectors are connected to the two circles below and above. I am coming back to this very cool principle in my next blogpost. Stay tuned!
Don’t forget to check out the video of this model: http://solarcookers.ning.com/video/foldable-circular-solar-cooker
A foldable and light weight solar cooker
Software to help in solar cooker design
I think that I have found software that will help people to design new solar cookers.
It is called art of illusion, it is a java program, it is free and it is cross platform. I have found it fairly easy to use.
More info can be found at this link. and a downloadable scene file that you can use in art of illusion to do your own design work
http://www.instructables.com/id/SHDDXHZFR0ZHCZX/
Classification and Therminology of Solar Cookers:
Terminology and Classification of solar cookers
To help myself and maybe others too to get things straight, I have made a proposition for some terminology to classify solar cookers. I know there are some classifications out there already, but the subject is far from clear in my opinion. Some cooker take their name from the cooking pot, others take their names from the type of reflector they are using, again others take their name from how the reflector is curved, if it is a deep curve of shallow curve. A cooker with a very shallow reflector would normally be called a solar grill. A cooker with a deep curve would sometimes be more of a cooker. This dicussion should contiune, but here anyway my 10 cents. To simplify I limit the scope to cathegories depending on type of reflectors and cooking spot. The reflector in the other hand is divided into four cathegories depending on shape, curve and the shape and size of the elements of reflections.
In my view, the solar cooker could take its names from many different cathegories depending the type of specification. I am giving three examples here of well known solar cookers, and indicating what specifies each one of them. As you probably see, more than one yes, in each cathegori, indicates sub variations and gives a possibility to classify these variations.
Number of variations based on the standard Solar Grill will normally be:
2* 1 * 4 * 2 *2 = 32 variations. A possibility to name each variations should then be possible.
Many more types than the standard three mentioned below, and could probably be classified according to this therminology and system. It should also be possible to find and evaluate new types of solar cookers based on this classification.
Note: this is not a final classification, but more a proposition open to discussion and change.
You find my proposition for classification in the pdf file below.
Se referanse : Classification and Therminology of Solar Cookers:
Reflectors
This is the forum to discuss refelctors, technique, methods and materials
Botle Heaters
Hot water is not taken for granted everywhere in the world. It demands a lot of energy and in some countries this often means burning coal or wood. Another alternative is to take advantage of the sun. A normal plastic water botle of 10 liters covered in black can be heated to just above 80 degrees C before the plastic starts to melt down. Even 60 -65 degrees is enough for geting safe driking water. Water heaters does not have to be very complicated. A black botle is enough to get water heated up to 45 degrees. A small reflector at the base can heat it to about 60 degrees C. Leave and forget the botle a few hours, come back and voila! – there is hot steeming water!
This botle heater keeps the botle in a 45-50 degrees position. In this way you can heat the botle from any angel.
A black
Here is another variation:
Heating water demands a lot of energy. Why use valuable electrical energy, when the sun can do the job? In the end of the day you have hot water for every purpose you want. We found that our children enjoy this very much. In our part of the world we are now approaching the dry cold season and tap water is usually quite cold. If the whole familiy wants to take a hot shower, there might not be enough water in one botle, but then we just add more botles.