Solar Reflector Cooker Installation at Upar Kenthia

Midday meals at primary schools in and around Kharagpur are prepared mostly using fire wood.  With an objective of eliminating such a practice that disrupts the environment, IIT Kharagpur is funding procurement of three solar reflector ovens in the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan program.  An oven was procured in this initiative from PRINCE – Promoters, Researchers and Innovators in New and Clean Energy, of Dhule for evaluation at Upar Kenthia Primary School near Kharagpur for its usefulness in midday meal preparation.  Volunteers of Unit 6 finished its installation on March 25, 2017 and are currently trying to iron out initial teething problems.  Further, since primary schools of this region usually have no space for secure storage and installation of such equipment, Unit 6 and 8 volunteers guided by their Program Officers, Professors JN Roy and BM Manoj, are also trying to design a similar but folding system with a more efficient configuration and an automatic tracker.  It is hoped that such a system would be more affordable and better suited for use at schools.  A concept of folding solar reflector oven put together by Unit 6 volunteers is shown in the accompanying animation.

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