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Ultra efficient solar electric cooker! 20 Watt Solar Panel can cook an egg with diode chain #solar
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May 9, 2024
With only 10-15 watts of solar power, this prototype mini solar electric cooker can cook an egg, boil water or cook food. The power source is just a 20-watt 12 volts solar panel. The cooker uses a solid state heating element to convert direct DC solar power to heat. Because a diode chain can act similar to an MPPT circuit, it extracts more heat from the solar panel under a variety of changing solar conditions. It's possible this tiny solar cooker broke a world record, as it reached near boiling temperature at just 3.0 to 5.8 watts of power. Further testing will be undertaken to see what the limits are. I made this prototype to demonstrate what a diode chain or diode string can do with a small solar panel to cook food. Combining an insulated container with a diode chain can make an effective and efficient solar electric cooker. š¢ Larger sized portable cooker in development - hope to show that one soon. The potential applications include camping, hiking, austere situations, survival, remote sites and rural areas where times are tough and cooking fuel is hard to get. ===========Related videos and material========== š¢ Micro solar PV2L oven cooking food from 100w panel https://youtu.be/p3NOilVYK44 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- š¢ Ryobi 18v battery mini oven baking bread https://youtu.be/RQKIfdO-KIY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- š¢ My solar powered diode chains research playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8a6nRTNyF9Or1aNBeJ0G1FvAmCVrX7wW ---------------------------------------------------------------------- š¢ Boiling an egg with a 100w solar panel https://youtu.be/-QthPOTDLSY
View Video Transcript
0:00
With just 10 to 15 watts of solar power in cloudy weather, this ultra-efficient solar light for cooker can boil water and cook an egg
0:20
I have seen it work even with as little as 6 watts. Is this prototype the most efficient solar cooking device ever created
0:27
And that's not the only thing that makes it unusual. It uses a string of diodes to extract the heat from the solar panel
0:33
That's right, diodes. In this video, I will show the solar cooker prototype in action, explain how it works
0:39
and include some footage from the many tests conducted in my solar workshop
0:43
So what led to this prototype being developed? Previously, I've spent a lot of time using small solar panels and directly attached heating elements
0:49
to cook food without using any fuel. Those projects are linked in the description
0:53
Normally, I'd use a standard resistance heating element and try to match it to the solar panel under optimum conditions
0:58
But this solar electric cooker prototype uses a solid state heating element made out of a diode chain or a diode string
1:04
It acts similar to an MPPT circuit by regulating to roughly the maximum power voltage of the solar panel
1:10
As a result, the diode chain extracts more heat and more power from the same solar panel on a variety of solar conditions
1:16
versus a resistance heating element. Match that technology with an efficient, well-insulated cooking container and the results are unbelievable
1:23
In earlier tests, this solar electric cooker was able to boil water with about 6 watts
1:27
which means I can cook food easily with just 10 to 15 watts. Here is a collection of footage from my solar workshop showing the latest test
1:35
I have extensively researched and documented solar powered diode chains as heating elements
1:39
Please check the description to see more of that work. In my last solar workshop vlog, I mentioned I'm working on a larger version of this solar cooker
1:46
as well as a solar powered hot water heater. Hi folks. This is a test of what I believe to be the world's most efficient solar electric cooker
1:54
I don't think there's anything in the world more efficient. This thing is heating up to currently 172 degrees
2:01
That's it right there. And what's shocking is that it started out at 3 watts going into it
2:08
That's not much heat at all. Now it's about 6 watts. And I will show you the solar panel outside that this is running off of
2:19
That's it. It's a 50 watt solar panel. And I got the wire going in to the building
2:26
building 50 watt solar panel and the weather it's just gray there's almost like no
2:37
sun at all it's just gray granted it's been sitting there for a while it's not
2:45
going to heat up super fast but that one little panel six watts of power if even that
2:51
now this cooker is modified since the last time I recorded it
2:56
It's had two more diodes added to it, so now the voltage is floating around 15.4 volts, which is a lot better
3:04
It's able to take a smaller solar panel now. The 50-watt solar panel wants to be at a much higher voltage
3:11
And for that reason, once I realized how efficient this thing was, I went ahead and I added two more diodes
3:17
I had to take this thing all apart. It was a real chore, I'll tell you. Temperature is still going up, 173.8
3:24
and of course it's not enough to really cook yet. I want to get it a little bit higher than that
3:30
but I think I might be able to cook with just maybe 10 watts. I'm not sure
3:34
It started out of three watts in the morning. It's now six watts, but six watts is ridiculous
3:40
It's not hardly any power at all. Well, I'm just going to let this sit here
3:44
It's still warming up 174.2, and it's going up pretty fast for only six watts
3:50
And I'm just going to see what kind of temperature can I achieve. There's the wires going in
3:56
Those are coming from the solar panel outside, 50 watt solar panel
4:00
And the wires are rather skinny, but that's just what I have available right now
4:05
6 watts, 15.4 volts. I'd like to be another volt higher on that, but I don't think it's a big deal
4:11
This thing is so efficient. I may not be getting all the power from the solar panel, but it's a whole lot better in a resistance element
4:17
The resistance element right now would be doing essentially nothing. You wouldn't be getting 15 volts
4:22
You'd probably be getting like 3 volts even. 4 volts, 5 volts, I don't know
4:28
But this is very, very efficient, both because of the diodes and the way they let the solar panel voltage stay up even in cloudy conditions and the fact it so heavily insulated And this container is very efficient I can barely feel any warmth on the outside It doing a really good job
4:43
The combination of the diode strings or diode chains with a heavily insulated container like this is amazing
4:50
It's a perfect match with a small solar panel. Yes, you could probably cook food with this
4:55
Keep in mind, it's very cloudy. Of course, if the sun comes out, it's a no-brainer. It's going to cook food
5:00
What I'm referring to is it's high. efficiency even under poor conditions and that's where the diode start to
5:05
really shine because when the sun starts to get kind of cloudy they still get heat
5:10
almost like an intelligent MPPT circuit but that's it's not an intelligent circuit
5:15
it's acting like some kind of a regulator but it's not really an intelligent circuit
5:20
it's just a string of diodes 175.4 I'm just going to leave this out here in my
5:26
shop and let it warm up and see what kind of temperature I can achieve for the grand total
5:30
of six watts It's ridiculous. I'm impressed already, 175.4 and rising. That's impressive to me
5:37
I think that's amazing and incredible. Who knows how high it can go
5:40
I don't really know. I'd like to reach a cooking temperature. We'll see
5:47
What this tells me is that once I get to 15 watts or 20 watts, this thing would cook with no problem at all
5:53
It's not a problem at all. That test will be done later when the sun comes out
5:57
Right now I don't have any sun. That's all I can do. And I thought I'd just try it
6:02
in really poor conditions, just out of curiosity, and I'm shocked. And the temperature is still rising, 175.6
6:10
OK, I'll probably record this some more later. I'm going to let it sit and warm up, and then I'll come back and record it some more
6:17
I'm back about 45 minutes later. It's down to maybe 5.6 watts, and we're at 188 degrees
6:26
187.8 just a moment ago, so it's still going up. I don't know what the top temperature
6:32
is going to be. I don't know where it's going to peak. It's still moving, so I'm just going to let it sit here
6:38
It's about 1 o'clock, so there's some daylight left. And as I said earlier, there isn't really any sun
6:45
It's just gray, dull, and overcast. So, however, 5.7 watts, 188, it just went up, 188.2 degrees for 5.7 watts
6:55
That is still very impressive. I'm still shocked. Well, I'll just let it sit here and see what happens
7:02
Okay, it has reached 206 degrees Fahrenheit, but it's the end of the day, so we're down to 3.9 watts
7:08
But 206 degrees Fahrenheit is incredible for such a tiny amount of power
7:12
I'm going to go ahead and open the container to see what's in there
7:17
Hopefully I don't burn myself. And there is the results. 206 degrees
7:26
It's just shy of a boil. All for less than 6 watts
7:32
And now for the second phase of testing. This happened in the middle of February, and this is where I boiled an egg using a 20 watt solar panel
7:41
Hi folks, I'm testing this small solar electric cooker here, and this one I believe is breaking a world record. In fact, I think it's already been broken a few days ago
7:51
This little thing here, you will not believe what's plugged into it. Now I'll give you a guess. It's not a 100 watt solar panel. It's got an egg inside and it's boiling. Right now I'm waiting for it to heat up
8:02
up again because I let some of the heat out when I put the egg in there. How small can you go
8:06
This is connected to a 20 watt solar panel. I kid you not, a 20 watt solar panel. A couple of
8:12
days ago, I tested this solar electric cooker with a 50 watt solar panel in gray, dark conditions
8:18
and I still managed to get 3.8 to 6 watts into this solar electric cooker. And I know it's hard
8:24
to believe, but with 3.8 to 6 watts, at the end of the day, I just barely hit a boil. I know
8:31
that's hard to believe. I couldn't believe it myself. I found it very hard to believe, but it was a fact that this is probably the world's most efficient solar electric cooker ever made
8:40
And it's so simple. Really, a product like this should exist on the shelf
8:44
All you have to do is take a food container like this, insulated food container
8:49
put some diodes in there, put your food in, and run a cable to it, hook a solar panel up
8:54
and you have the world's most efficient solar electric cooker that's small and portable
8:59
uses very little power. Anyway, I'm just going to go ahead and show you some video documentation of this device and operation
9:06
Now I have a bigger one and it about this tall and it holds much more food This is a really small solar electric cooker It probably suitable for remote sites rural areas and places where cooking fuel is not possible to get or it too hard to get
9:21
It might be good for hiking as well. With only a 20 to 50 watt solar panel
9:24
this little thing here could cook your food, and it doesn't weigh very much. They have solar panels that weigh a couple of pounds
9:31
You could connect one to something like this, and you could go hiking and cook your food
9:35
It's not out of the realm of possibility. All right, I've had the egg in there for maybe 10 minutes, I'm not really sure
9:42
And I'm just going to take the cover off to check to make sure it's still boiling
9:49
Try not to burn myself. Yep, it's still boiling. Here's a quick look inside, just so you can see that it's boiling
10:01
And it's not a rolling boil, but I can see bubbles coming up. It's hard to see with all the steam
10:07
but there's definitely bubbles coming up. Which the camera would focus. Yeah, there's little bubbles coming up
10:16
It's not a rolling boil. And currently I'm getting 14.3 watts. That's the solar panel outside
10:25
14.3 watts. It's a 20-watt solar panel. Getting really good sunshine right now
10:30
However, I did see this setup run on about 6 watts, 3.8 to 6 watts
10:34
And I was able to hit either boiling, or just shy of boiling with the same setup
10:39
So even in cloudy weather with a 50-watt solar panel, this will boil an egg. Okay, the test appears to be a success
10:45
I'm getting about 14.5 to 6 watts, 14.5, 14.6, something like that
10:51
from a 20-watt solar panel, and I very easily reached boiling temperatures
10:55
Unlike yesterday, I only had about 3.8 to 6 watts, and it took a long time to reach boiling temperatures
11:00
But with 14 to 15 watts, this setup will reach boiling temperatures very easily
11:06
and it will hold it. pretty much all day once it gets warmed up. The egg that is inside is boiling
11:12
It's boiling quite vigorously. And I'm going to go ahead and show you what that looks like
11:18
First I've got to get the camera off the tripod. All right, so there's the container
11:24
There's the voltage. There's the temperature on the immersion side. Of course, the food side is at boiling temperature
11:30
And the one at the top, that's the 20-watt solar panel that's outside
11:37
And I've just got a pair of wires running in. There's a string of diodes in here
11:41
So I'm basically boiling an egg with a 20 watt solar panel. Let's go ahead and try to open this without burning myself with hot steam
11:48
Every time I open this hot steam comes out. And there you go. 20 watt solar panel's doing all of that
11:59
And it starts to slow down when I take the lid off. You can see it's not as vigorous of a boil as it was
12:05
There's still bubbles coming up though. and it's really hot. Anyway, by now I believe this egg to be probably cooked
12:13
and I can take it out and test that. And I don't know if you can see the steam coming out or not
12:19
There's quite a lot of steam coming out at the top, especially when you first open it. So yeah, I'm boiling an egg with a 20-watt solar panel
12:26
and some diodes. Very interesting. And here you can see when I took the lid off
12:32
the water had reached a rolling boil. It's shocking and unbelievable to me that a 20-watt solar panel
12:36
and a handful of watts can actually make water boil like that. All right, so it's time to get the egg out
12:43
It's been in there for a while. I haven't really timed it. And I need to get it out and see if it's cooked
12:48
It's going to be difficult to get it out. Very hard to get that out of there
12:58
There's the egg. Let's see if it's cooked. I'd like to never got it out of there
13:05
There's not much room to reach the top. in there. I'm just going to crack it in the bowl here. Yep, it's boiled
13:20
probably over cooked it. I really don't know how to cook, to be honest with you. And so I'm
13:27
just trying to show that it actually is cooked and it's not a trick. Yeah, it's cooked. I
13:33
don't know how long you're supposed to boil eggs for, to be honest. My plan was just to leave it in there a good long while
13:38
Ouch, burnt myself. My plan was to leave it in there a good long while and just to make sure, you know
13:45
Ow, it's really hot. It burning my fingers Anyway it absolutely boiled the egg And a 20 solar panel can absolutely boil an egg it can absolutely boil water it can absolutely cook food
13:58
and this test is a unqualified success I must say I was not really expecting
14:04
this to work but it did work for a prototype that's sort of just put together
14:09
using off-the-shelf parts in a hurry I must say I'm really shocked and amazed
14:13
and you know thank God for diodes I guess they can do a lot more than we thought
14:20
Well, I'm just going to look at the aftermath of the test, and the diodes are getting pretty hot
14:26
So I'm going to go ahead and power them down. And I'm done cooking, so I don't really need to keep putting heat in here
14:36
Now, I did not use anything else to heat this. I just use a 20-watt solar panel
14:41
And I've run it through that watt meter. If you can boil an egg, then you can
14:46
cook just about anything in there as long as it will fit. With this prototype
14:50
space is at a premium, but it easily fit an egg, and certainly you could put a
14:56
small amount of other kinds of food in there as well. The diodes held up well
15:00
They're currently at 218 and cooling. That's 103 Celsius, for those who use
15:05
Celsius, and I try to keep my diodes not too hot. I don't want them to get too hot
15:10
That's pretty hot. Anyhow, it's a success, and it worked very well
15:16
Something like this you could use over and over and over again for years, day after day
15:21
with a single small solar panel. And when it's gray and dreary outside, I actually use a 50-watt panel to power this device, and it still worked
15:30
I mean, it was dark. There was almost no sun at all. The conditions were terrible, and yet I was still able to boil water in this thing
15:36
That's amazing. I can't get over that. I can't believe it. And now I'm just taking the egg inside, and I'm going to shell it and make absolutely certain it was cooked
15:45
Wonderful focus here. but you can see the egg is definitely cooked at least on the outside
15:55
And there's the proof. I really was worried it might not have cooked, but no, it was absolutely
15:59
totally, completely and thoroughly cooked all the way through. Okay, so this absolutely worked, and it's definitely very exciting to see literally diodes connected
16:09
to a solar panel that are able to cook food. That's just mind-boggling to me. I didn't know
16:13
that was possible. And I would say that this prototype, I certainly could have applications in the real world and certainly could be an off-the-shelf product
16:21
It has a lot of uses. It's very efficient. It's lightweight. It's portable. Bonus part three. Why direct solar electric cooking
16:28
Often I am asked, why not just use solar thermal cooking? I'm not against solar thermal or any
16:33
cooking methods, but direct solar electric cooking has a number of distinct advantages
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For me, it's crystal clear. A pair of wires allows the cooking appliance to be brought indoors
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Indoor cooking is part of civilization and convenience. Plus the ability to have a batterer
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backup. To me it makes perfect sense. I don't need an inverter, charge controller, or inverter
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unless I want to use it. Nor do I need to stand out in the sun or bring my food outdoors to cook
16:55
I'd consider direct solar electric cooking to be kind of like a more high-tech version of solar
16:59
thermal cooking, but still simple and robust. Thinking in terms of flexibility, having a battery
17:04
option still makes sense. I have experimented with baking bread and cooking food from 18-volt
17:08
power tool batteries, as these are common items found all over the world. I even went as far as converting
17:14
a toaster oven to run off of dual 18-volt-Riubi batteries, that was an incredibly difficult project
17:19
It does work, but I believe that concept holds promise and should be taken seriously
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There is definitely some demand for small, ultra-portable cooking appliances that can integrate
17:28
multiple power sources such as commodity power tool batteries and small solar panel raised to do the cooking
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without burning any fuel. When times are tough and cooking fuel is very hard to get or impossible
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to get, these types of appliances can cook food over and over and over again without burning any fuel
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They don't have complicated electronics or moving parts. They're relatively simple to repair and maintain
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and can even be built as part of a DIY project. Many of today's cooking appliances have far too many things to go wrong
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such as Bluetooth, Internet of Things, apps, software, microcontrollers, and so forth
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But simple and robust appliances are more effective and affordable in the long term
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There are a lot of other projects that have not been able to finish and or have not been able to show on camera
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I hope I'll be able to make more videos about this stuff in the future. watching and I hope to see you next time
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