Around 600 students from a school in Bambolim participated in a programme where they cooked noodles using solar energy. This was done with the guidance of teachers, aided by institutions including the Goa Energy Development Association. These solar cookers were made with simple materials which works to reduce the cost involved. There was a lot of information that exchanged hands, information that could be used on a widespread basis to help Goa in various ways. Solar cooking may take a little longer than using gas or other fossil fuels, but the end product is actually far more nutritious than one would imagine. This method of cooking has existed for a long time but has not been adapted by institutions and
individuals the way it should have been. The basic fundamental
of solar cooking is that of using direct sunlight to heat and
cook food. It can also be used to pasteurise food and related
products. The obvious question would be, how can solar energy
be harnessed to create the required
amount of heat to cooking
food, like rice, curry or even meat
and vegetables. It can, using simple
principles like concentrating sunlight
and converting light energy
into heat energy. There are different
types of cookers “ box, parabolic
and panel, but all run on the
same principles and cook food quite well. Now this may make
sense for a household to cook food occasionally or on a regular
basis but these principles can also be used on a much larger
scale. Institutions, like orphanages, old age homes, charitable
groups, bakeries and even factories, can use this method to
cook food for hundreds and thousands of mouths. These either
use direct solar power or use that power to create steam
that can also be used in cooking.
Tirupati and Shirdi have very popular shrines that use solar
technology to cook food, both using parabolic reflectors to create
power. In Shirdi, over 20,000 devotees are fed daily. Solar
power is used for almost nine to ten months, with a wood fired
boiler used in the remaining months. In Auroville, the experimental
township outside Pondicherry, a massive parabolic solar
cooking apparatus called the Auroville Solar Bowl manages
to cook food for over 1000 people daily for lunch and dinner
too. Incidentally, the Bowl is named so since the research for
it had started in Auroville itself in the mid-1980s. The Villager
Sun Oven is a box cooker created by a company in the U.S. that
has been scaled up for community use and is in use in over 55
countries like Afghanistan, Haiti and parts of Africa in refugee
camps and other areas.
Imagine solar energy being used to create mid-day meals for
school children across Goa. This is not something that cannot
be done without the government’s help but the cost implications
are astounding. This is a one-time cost, which can be
subsidized and perhaps even made into a loan to these institutions.
Not only will be pro rata cost go down but conversely
the health quotient of the food will go up. There are other institutions,
from colleges to factories and offices that can benefit
from solar cooking. The Goa Energy Development Agency
could possibly spearhead this process, which has man benefits,
apart from creating a revenue stream for many organisations
too. The possibilities are vast, but the time to start is now.
