BHUBANESWAR: At a time when LPG supply is becoming scarce, particularly for commercial consumers, a team of innovators from the state has come up with a cost-effective and eco-friendly cooking system powered by solar energy. It has already made commercial debut in the city.Manoj Kumar Nayak, professor of applied sciences at NIT-Delhi, and Sudhansu Sekhar Sahoo, head of the school of mechanical sciences at Odisha University of Technology and Research, besides electrician Santosh Swain, have developed a DC-powered solar stove that operates without batteries.
The cost for installing the solar stove is Rs 15,000- 20,000 for those with solar panels (2KV or 3 KV) under PM Surya Ghar Yojana. If solar panels are to be installed, the whole setup will cost Rs 50,000. The system uses power generated from solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, eliminating the need for battery storage, thereby reducing cost and maintenance. What makes the innovation significant is its re-engineering of the traditional coil-based heater, a technology that had fallen out of favour due to high AC power consumption.“We redesigned the coil-based heater that was used in our homes earlier to make it function efficiently on direct current (DC) supplied by solar panels, eliminating the need for battery storage,” said Sahoo. For the cooking system, they have used a 2kW solar PV system and integrated it with a specially designed controller and regulator.Sahoo added the heater performs during sunny, partially cloudy weather and even rainy days, barring extremely low sunlight. The heating coil was engineered, taking into account parameters such as wire diameter, coil size, and length to withstand high current during peak solar output. It is also shock-proof.It took the team around 4 years to design the cooking system, including the heater. They received a patent for the product in 2024 and developed a DC-compatible induction cooking system, along with the coil-based system.Sahoo said, “Depending on the type of utensils, cooking requirements and type of food preparations, both the systems can be used and can be operated using AC supply during night.”Both systems were demonstrated at various technical platforms and are in operation at the OUTR-FINE incubator, where they have shown consistent performance over the past two years. Amidst a severe crisis of commercial LPG for the hotel industry, the team installed the cooking systems commercially at a restaurant in Bhubaneswar this week.
