Internship - Eenhana Solar Project by Viktor Zwaenepoel at Coroflot.com

Internship - Eenhana Solar Project

Internship - Eenhana Solar Project from Viktor Zwaenepoel

Internship - Eenhana Solar Project

For my Internship I went to Eenhana, Namibia where I worked with a local school (Eenhana Vocational Training Centre).

Many people in Eenhana, and Namibia in general, still rely on firewood as a primary energy source. Due to population growth and increasing population density, it is becoming more difficult to find enough wood. Trees are cut down with desertification as a major consequence. Finally there's also the amounts of CO2 that are released in the air due to this energy inefficient way of cooking.

I decided to go with a low-tech solution and chose for solar cooking. Many designs already exist and I wanted to focus on spreading information rather than designing something new for the sake of designing.

I made a booklet that contained how solar cooking works, how to make your own cooker and how to use it. Through workshops and spreading of the book people got familiar with it. Hopefully it will continue to be used in the future

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This is a paper prototype of the Fun Panel Cooker by Theong Tan.

I simplified most of the Fun Panel Cooker's design and added some extra features to fit local circumstances.

Temperatures of 70°C are achieved easily and this simple cooker even went up to 95°C.

I was working within and with a local school. Nobody seemed to believe it would work until my first test with food.

Everybody wants a taste of this solar cooked food.

Instead of just leaving plans I made a more understandable booklet, for those without any technical knowledge. I tested this booklet with the students at the VTC.

They managed to make their own solar cooker quite fast, while I supervised and took notes to improve where the booklet failed to explain.

After introducing solar cooking in the VTC, I wanted to spread it more. I found the Tate Institute of Technology(T.I.T.). This organisation consists of an electronics and computer shop and a school for deaf and disabled kids. David Sebulon, co-founder of the school, showed much enthusiasm for the project and asked me to come and explain to his students.