In an effort to combine utility and use of renewable energy for scalable adoption and mass acceptance, Indian Oil Corporation has commenced a pilot test-study of an indoor solar cooking system at Leh, Ladakh. The initiative was flagged off by Dr SSV Ramakumar, Director (R&D) IOCL.
Heeding the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for developing low-cost indoor solar cooking solutions, Indian Oil has tied up with Sun Bucket System, a US-based start-up working on solar energy-based products, to design, develop and commercialise an innovative, easy-to-use cooking system that collects and stores solar energy as thermal energy for cooking purposes. The portable ‘sun bucket’ can be safely used for cooking indoors and is designed to cater to the full range of Indian cooking for a family of four.
The sun bucket can be ‘charged’ using parabolic solar concentrators kept outdoor. Once charged, the system is capable of storing and discharging the thermal energy on demand for indoor cooking — for boiling, steaming, frying and to make roti. It has enough heat storage capacity to cater to cooking demands during the day as well as at night. The sun bucket will be cost-effective over solar PV-induction cooktops and is ideal for use by rural and semi-urban households.
Indian Oil’s Indane LPG bottling plant at Leh, being completely run on solar power, has been chosen to flag off the pilot test-study. The location of the plant, 11,800 feet above mean sea level in dry desert conditions, makes it an ideal spot for high sun exposure throughout the year.
