Energy
March 13, 2017
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A PESAR DE PARECER FUTURISTA, LA COCINA SOLAR SE HA UTILIZADO DURANTE MUCHOS AÑOS
Cocinar puede ser un desafío en sí mismo. Siguiendo recetas, obteniendo los ingredientes correctos y esperando que salga delicioso – a menos que seas un chef de primera clase, todos han tenido unas pocas cenas quemadas en su tiempo. Cuando estás fuera de la red, sin embargo, no es solo preocuparse por lo que sabe, sino también con ¡cómo cocinar la comida!
Cosechar el poder del sol para cocinar ha sido una práctica llevada a cabo durante muchos años.
Las cocinas solares han estado en el mercado desde mediados de los 80 y se han convertido en una opción popular para cocinar de forma segura y fácil sin incendios ni combustible. Existen beneficios obvios para la cocina solar, después de la inversión inicial es una fuente de energía renovable y gratuita. No sólo esto, sino que se considera una forma más saludable de cocinar sin humo de incendios, etc.
Las cocinas solares convierten los rayos del sol en radiación infrarroja que produce calor. Por lo tanto, no es el calor del sol en sí mismo ni la temperatura del aire ambiente fuera de la cocina lo que hace que los alimentos se cocinen.
Hay tres tipos principales de cocina solar que pueden variar en su diseño y construcción.
La cocina de caja solar se deriva de una caja con reflectores que canalizan los rayos del sol en la cámara que contiene la comida que se va a cocinar. Estos modelos pueden alcanzar temperaturas muy altas, en promedio entre 200-350 ° F, que es ideal para la mayoría de las necesidades de horneado. Con una buena retención de calor y poca necesidad de supervisión, es perfectamente seguro dejar los alimentos durante largos períodos sin temor a quemarse. Al ser una forma de caja, estas cocinas tienen menos probabilidades de volcarse y, cuando se construyen, tienen altos niveles de aislamiento.
La cocina del panel solar, por otro lado, no alcanza temperaturas tan altas; entre 200-250 ° F. Esencialmente, el diseño es una olla o sartén dentro de un recinto de plástico, con un panel reflectante lateral 3-5 que lo rodea para canalizar los rayos del sol. Este tipo de diseño es mejor para períodos de cocción más largos y lentos, dejando la comida muy suculenta. Sin ajustes necesarios para rastrear el sol, se necesita poca supervisión.
NO HAY NECESIDAD DE PREOCUPARSE DE EL RIESGO DE INCENDIO O QUEMA DE ALIMENTOS CON LA COCINA SOLAR
Finalmente, la cocina parabólica solar puede mantener las temperaturas más altas de los tres tipos principales, por lo que puede usarse para asar a la parrilla o incluso para freír alimentos. Puede cocinar los alimentos mucho más rápido, sin embargo, generalmente cantidades más pequeñas que las que se pueden conservar en las cocinas solares de caja o panel. También se necesita más atención cuando …
Cooking can be challenging in itself. Following recipes, getting the right ingredients and hoping it comes out tasting delicious – unless you’re a top class chef, everyone has had a fair few burnt dinners in their time. When you’re off-grid however it’s not just worrying about what it tastes like, but how to cook the food in the first place!
Solar cookers have been on the market since the mid-80s and have become a popular option for safe and easy cooking with no fires or fuel involved. There are obvious benefits to solar cooking, after the initial investment it is a free renewable source of energy. Not only this, but it is seen as a healthier way of cooking without smoke from fires etc.
Solar cookers convert the sun’s rays to infra-red radiation producing heat. Therefore, it is not the sun’s heat itself or the ambient air temperature outside the cooker that causes the food to cook.
The solar box cooker is derived from a box with reflectors that funnel the sun’s rays into the chamber which contains the food to be cooked. These models can reach very high temperatures, on average between 200-350°F, which is ideal for most baking needs. With a good heat retention and little need for supervision it is perfectly safe to leave food for long periods without fear of burning. Being a box shape these cookers are less likely to tip over and when constructed will have high levels of insulation.
The solar panel cooker on the other hand doesn’t reach temperatures quite as high; between 200-250°F. Essentially the design is a pot or pan within a plastic enclosure, with a 3-5 side reflective panel surrounding it to channel the sun’s rays. This type of design is best for slower longer cooking periods, leaving food very succulent. With no adjustments needed to track the sun, little supervision is needed.
Finally, the solar parabolic cooker can maintain the highest temperatures of the three main types and so can be used for grilling or even frying food. It can cook food much quicker, however usually smaller amounts than what can be held in the box or panel solar cookers. Also more attention is needed when cooking using this model, as the angle and direction of the cooker will need to be changed more frequently to track the sun.
There are many plans and designs for you to try if you want to have a go at a DIY solar cooker. Many designs include using materials commonly found around the home or are easily obtainable. For example, cardboard boxes, aluminium foil, black paint, some form of adhesive and even umbrellas!
Large parts of Brussels are without power tonight after the City Grid ceased to function at about 10.45pm local time.
But buildings with solar panels on rooftops were not able to maintain their own power supply because the panels are all feeding into to the grid. Even solar panels with battery backup were unable to maintain a supply because EU regulations require a cutoff of the battery supply in the event of a grid outage.
Brussels is home to the HQ of the European Commission – the Berlaymont Building – which has its own petrol powered generators in the basement, so it is still functioning on skeleton power at time of writing.
The health and safety rules were introduced 10 years ago, even though a simple cutoff switch between the grid and the panels or batteries in individual buildings, would solve the problem by removing the threat to power workers as they tried to restore the supply. Lobbyists from the large power companies and grid management companies are responsible for the restrictive regulations.
It is believed the northern part of the EU capital has been affected the worst with the cause still to be identified.Residents have been forced to use candles and have posted pictures of their efforts to restore light on social media.
An earlier power cut is understood to have hit a smaller part of the city earlier in the evening but was ‘resolved by 8.30pm’.
Power firm Sibelga, which handles gas and electricity services in the city, and power network operator Elia have confirmed there is a fault in the grid, with repair teams on site.
Sirens have been heard across the city, which was the victim of a terrorist attack last March.…
American families have been going off-grid for more than forty years, but for most it’s a gradual process, involving a lot of learning by trial and error. In a recent article published in Reason, J.D Tuccille wrote about how his experience going “semi-off-grid” in 2008 led him to reconsider his attachment to the mains, and begin a journey towards self-reliance that is still ongoing today.
Dipping into off-grid waters
In 2008 a power failure lasted a week at J.D’s former home in remote Arizona. While he had his own well, it was controlled by a pump that required electricity, and the surface of the water was too low to dip some out by hand. Then there was the issue of modern plumbing without electricity, and the requirements of coffee pots to consider. However, outages were common – so J.D had come prepared. He and his wife Wendy Wendy had stored water, cut firewood, and fueled up the camping stove and lanterns. They remained hydrated, warm and fed through that and every other experience with the electric grid’s unreliability.
“All in all, it was a bit Little House on the Prairie for our tastes, though with a better wine selection – but ultimately more of an inconvenience than a disaster,” he wrote. “But tolerance for inconvenience can decline with the years.”
When they moved to a new house in the foothills, Wendy had a strict requirement – a climate-controlled environment in the house at all times. This required some research into the best off-grid power systems to use for the climate, so J.D had to get serious.
“This being Arizona, where everything bakes for much of the year under the fireball in the sky, my first thought was solar,” J.D writes. “But I quickly discovered that all of those panels adorning people’s roofs were nothing more than expensive shingles during a power outage. Most solar installations are designed to feed the grid, not keep you independent of it. I priced adding batteries to the mix to gain some autonomy, but they more than doubled the cost. And batteries couldn’t handle the power demands of an air conditioner anyway. So we settled, if that’s the right word, for a 22 kW standby generator, which can handle the well pump and keep the air conditioning running.”
He said they were “especially pleased” with the decision when the European Union completed a coordinated cyber-attack simulation and found it leading to a “very dark scenario,” including crashed power grids.
J.D also beefed up the water storage capabilities at the house with rain barrels hooked to the gutters, which are conveniently located near the garden where he now grows tomatoes, olive and fig trees.
“Wendy and I have stumbled down our path incrementally over the years out of a combination of necessity and curiosity,” he writes. “We also keep tweaking our set-up. In addition …
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