3 Types Of Portable Solar-powered Camping Stoves And Its Advantages
The presence of portable solar-powered camping stoves during outdoor activities has proven to be beneficial due to the following reasons: portability, convenience, economical, environment-friendly, and safe.
Solar energy is electricity generated from sunlight. It has various applications such as in agriculture, lighting, vehicles, and more. The invention of solar camping stoves has brought about myriad of advantages. Below are some types of the solar stoves namely:
Sport solar oven
Practicality makes this solar cooker advantageous as compared to others. The outer casing, which is an insulating plastic, is made of lightweight and resilient materials. It is versatile because it can be used for roasting, baking, cooking any type of food. Made from fiber glass, its insulation material keeps moisture away while cooking. Although insulation is good, it allows sunlight to pass through the lid and facilitate cooking. With its no-tip-over design, stability is not a problem at all regardless of the surface level.
Sun oven
As a solar appliance, it has a built-in thermostat and collapsible reflectors that is capable of generating as much as 360 - 400 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. Baking, steaming, and boiling are just some of its functionalities. The external features are presentable because it is covered with black enamel and weighs 21 pounds. Its foldable legs make it very handy and transferable.
Solar Grill
This is a build-your-own solar grill that uses an old satellite dish and scrap metals. It is a dual cooking device, which uses fuel and solar energy. It is capable of performing any cooking method such as baking, broiling, stewing, frying, and boiling. Since the power comes directly from the sun, it is considered environment-friendly due to absence of harmful chemicals in the air.
Advantages of a portable solar-powered camping stove
Portability
Most of the camping stoves are designed for easy transport; thus, portability is one of its characteristic features. In addition, it has collapsible legs that make it easier to carry and store.
Convenience
You won't be having any problem with fuel shortage when using solar-powered stoves. Instead, you are even helping in the conservation of energy.
Economical
Since the sun's energy is for free, absolutely there is no need to purchase fuel and wood to generate heat or electricity. All you need to do is to save energy by trapping the rays on a solar panel where it can be stored. This would mean a lot of savings on the part of the consumers.
Environment-friendly
Without the use of fuel, there are no apparent contaminants such as carbon monoxide can harm the air. No soot formation is also noted because of the absence of combustible chemical, which is fuel.
Safe
Using solar camping stoves, accidental spillage of fuel and danger of catching fire are less likely to happen because the only source of heat is the sunlight.
Frequently Asked Questions
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QUESTION:
What is the lifespan of a portable solar charger?
I am looking into buying a portable solar charger for my laptop, but can't find any information on how long these products are supposed to last. I know thin film panels usually only have warranties for 5-10 years in normal solar panels (versus longer lifespans with the crystalline panels). I don't know how to translate that information into making a purchase, though.Does anyone know of a clearinghouse of information on portable solar chargers?
Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
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ANSWER:
Portable chargers are usually pretty useless because they don't have enough output to do anything. You can count on getting about 2/3 the power they claim to put out. You'll nedd at least a 20 watt array to get even a slow charge.
As for the lifespan, solar cells tend to degrade from how long they spend in the sun, not how old they are. So, a charger that was only in the sun occasionaly would last for decades.
You also need to have one with a controller. A 12 volt array can get up to 19 volts in an unregulated setup when you're not drawing current from it, and that could fry a 12 volt computer.
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QUESTION:
What is the best portable solar charger?
I am looking for a portable solar charger to charge my iphone and sat nav while i am away trekking in Canada. Can anyone advise what is the best option to go for. So far i have looked at the Solio classic and magnesium, power monkey explorer and the freeloader. Does anyone have any other suggestions or recommendations?-
ANSWER:
A simple RV or Marine solar cell and inverter that folds or rolls up is a good one.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=flexible+solar&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=1140873221&ref=pd_sl_8vmqh86j0l_b
http://www.solarhome.org/solarpanelscenter.html
Kinda depends on the watts/amps but that is what the inverter is for.
http://www.solarhome.org/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=47
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QUESTION:
Where can I buy a portable solar panels for my home in the Philippines?
With the power crisis looming in, I think it's better to have a solar panel than buy a portable generator which eats up petrol. Philippines must have the costliest fuel per liter in Asia. Problem is, solar panels can't be bought as easily as generators.-
ANSWER:
the endless world of the internet
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QUESTION:
What can anyone tell me about good portable solar power equipment?
I'm doing research on portable solar equipment, and there are a lot of companies out there that I've found. Anyone have any ideas as to what brands will hold up for long periods of hiking and driving? It would need to be able to power batteries for laptops, camcorders, and probably some smaller equipment like cell phones, iPods, etc.-
ANSWER:
dasa751Lots of good ideas here -- note the ratings too:
http://bit.ly/gFGh4Lots of neat things -- I want one of each! For example:
hybrid solar chargers for blackberry, iphone, nokia
foldable solar array
foldable solar chargers
solar power portable panels
eton solarlink radio
solar calculators
briefcase portable solar
solar shower
etc
http://bit.ly/gFGh4Good luck!
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QUESTION:
Is it possible to use a portable solar device to put electricity into my house via plugs?
I live in an apartment that has a small South facing porch, in Southern California. I'd like to use solar to decrease my monthly electric bill. Without buying a rooftop system (it's not my roof, it must be portable), what can I get to plug into my existing sockets, to decrease my monthly electricity bill? (I already buy carbon credits and have special plugs to reduce drain from energy vampires).-
ANSWER:
Hey Socal, it's always good to hear someone is interested in going solar. In your situation, you don't have a lot of options, but it is possible to do it. What you need is called a microsine inverter. For several years Trace Engineering built one called the MS100, also referred to as the OK4U inverter. It is very small, can convert up to 100 watts of solar power into household AC and basically dump it right into your homes existing wiring. They stopped making them a few years ago, but I have seen them at resale websites like Ebay and Alt E Store on line. In fact, lots of them are sold already attached to a properly sized panel. They are not cheap, you might spend close to 00 to get a slightly used set with the inverter already installed on the panel that puts out 100 watts or so.There is another company called Enphase making them in Europe. They work just like the Trace unit, except they are set up for 240 VAC, like most of Europe is. Some installers are putting them into homes here in the US and have had good luck with them. They have a 15 year warranty, and most of the panels for sale today have warranties that run much longer than that. You can search for Enphase inverters online, or look for a used Trace unit at a resale website.
A couple words of caution. First, if you've not had any experience with solar electric panels, or PV, they have to be completely exposed to the sun. If you have a small shaded area, like from a rail on your balcony, the entire panels output is compromised. We learned this the hard way when we converted our home over to solar power years ago. It's all working fine now. So that panel has to be on the outside of any rails, planters, laundry and so on to work. Secondly, these microsine inverters are designed to tie to the existing grid power, which means they have to have an AC signal to operate. If the power goes out in your building, the panel and inverter will shut down too, so you won't have backup power from your panel during a power outage.
Another option is to build up a small panel/inverter/battery system like we did years ago. You can start with one small panel, say 50 watts or so, a couple golf cart batteries and a small inverter from the autoparts store. Go to Home Power Magazines website at Homepower.com and use their search engine to look for an article called, "Starting with the small system first." It was an article that featured the system we originally put into our home 10 years ago. You might have to subscribe to use their search engine.
I suggest doing some research online and shopping around a bit before you make any decisions. You might decide not to get involved at all, and that's fine, but at least you will be well informed. I'll include some places to search for more info below. Good luck, and take care, Rudydoo
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